Class of Shiota - Submit your OC
by KasuraRave
Summary: A submit your OC fanfiction - Class 3-E, but Nagisa is their teacher. The blue haired teacher(?) carries secrets and motives which his class will have to find - will they? (Features cameos from the rest of the original 3-E, and there WILL be assassination in the classroom!)
1. How to Submit

**Hey guys! So for y'all who have read any of my fanfictions before, you'll know that I currently have two underway; Angels and Reapers, and my requested fanfic, Element 4. I wasn't going to post this until Element 4 was finished, but I decided to post it now to give maximum time for everyone to get their OC's in! So please make sure you read all this!**

 **Basically, this was based on a prompt from DragonHero. If you're reading this, Hi :D I'll still be doing A Ghost in Blue, however, this was requested several times in different ways, so I'll do this as a side one as well.**

 **It's a** ** _submit your OC Class 3-E._** **However, there are differences - the main one being that our very own Nagisa Shiota will be the teacher! There ARE more differences, however I can't reveal them here or there would be major spoilers; but there are quite a few differences, especially as I will be altering the episode plots as well.**

 **All I need from you readers are your OCs! You'll get full credit for them, plus I will ask for any major turns. Of course, I will favour those who review.**

 **I have 4 OCs myself, but I will be using 3 here, as one is already in another Submit your OC fanfiction in Assassination Classroom. The rest is all up to you!**

* * *

 **What's below is what I need from you. Bear in mind the more detailed the better - and you can add your OC in review or PM, PM preferably so I can contact you easier:**

First Name:

Last Name:

Nicknames(What do they go by?):

Gender:

Sexual Orientation:

Birthday:

Hair colour/style:

Eye colour/any other features:

Height:

Weight:

Personality:

Backstory(more detailed the better!):

Previous class before 3-E:

Why they are in 3-E:

Weapon of choice:

Best subject:

Worst subject:

Hobbies/best skills:

Other:

* * *

 **I hope to hear from you, and I'll be putting an prologue soon when I get some characters!**

 **Thanks, Rave**

 **EDIT: Changed epilogue to prologue cause I wasn't concentrating.**


	2. Important Info! UPDATED CHARACTER LIST

**EDITs 1- 4: Added missing notes and corrected spell errors**

 **EDIT 5: Updated the character list**

* * *

 **Hey, a quick authors thing;**

 **Thanks so much for all the respondants! I like all the entries and in general, most have been accepted as they are.**

 **I just have some things to say.**

 **First, this is the list by gender of the current characters, surname first:**

Girls:

Kagami Mickelle

Arisato Chinatsu 'Natsu' (Fem Class rep)

Shimizu Miho

Sekine Rinee 'Rin'

Zamura Namuri 'Naza'

Shion Arisa

Ren Kougyoku 'Kou'

Boys:

Kuro

Omori Takayuki (Male class rep)

Shinoa Echo

Kazushige Ebisawa

* * *

 **T̶h̶e̶r̶e̶'̶s̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶f̶i̶r̶s̶t̶ ̶p̶r̶o̶b̶l̶e̶m̶,̶ ̶w̶e̶'̶r̶e̶ ̶a̶l̶r̶e̶a̶d̶y̶ ̶g̶e̶t̶t̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶a̶ ̶t̶i̶l̶t̶ ̶t̶o̶w̶a̶r̶d̶s̶ ̶g̶i̶r̶l̶s̶.̶** **. Also, over half of these fellows came from class A, and most got moved down because of violence. We need some diversity people!**

 **THERE ARE NOW MORE MALES THAN FEMALES, SO IT IS FAIR GAME FOR ALL GENDERS AGAIN.**

 **So, from now on, if your character is fe̶m̶a̶l̶e̶, from class A or got moved down from violence, then I'll have to look over it more before automatically accepting. I'm sorry, I just have too many sadistics already and heck, I hardly have half the class. Many of the backstories are very dramatic as well, with maaaany sad stories. No normal ones.**

 **On another note, whilst Asano will remain the same, there will be FOUR new Virtuosos - two female, two male. If you wanna submit a virtuoso, go ahead - it's the same profile but anything bout weapons or moving down omitted. They won't be in the spotlight, just more fun characters.**

 **Virtuoso F 1:**

 **Virtuoso F 2:**

 **Virtuoso M 1:**

 **Virtuoso M 2:**

 **Anyways, as long as ya read this, you'll be fine. And PLEASE people. DIVERSITYYYY.**

 **Prologue will be out soon!**

* * *

 **UPDATED CHARACTER LISTS: {Previous Class}**

 **I NOW HAVE AS MANY CLASS C AS CLASS A (Although Class C isn't necessarily a bad thing)**

Girls:

\- Arisato, Chinatsu {A}

\- Sekine, Rinee {C}

\- Arisa, Shion {C}

\- Zamura, Namuri {D}

\- Ren, Kougyoku {A}

\- Kagami, Mickelle {A}

\- Gastumatsee, Cloriko {A}

\- Shimzu, Miho {B}

\- Iwamoto, Reina {C}

Boys:

\- Kuro {C}

\- Shinoa, Echo {A}

\- Ebisawa, Kazushige {C}

\- Omori, Takayuki {B}

\- Niijima, Yu {A}

\- Inoue, Hideki {D}

\- Kumino, Mikoshi {B}

\- Endou, Shouta {C}

\- Kisoka, Ryu {B}

\- Joyce, Yukio {Transfer from America}

\- Ken, Tatsukawa {Moved from Singapore}

 **Virtuosos [Star subject]**

 **Head:** Asano (of course)

 **Female 1:** Tokisaka, Rika [Japanese]

 **Female 2:**

 **Male 1:** Kaminari, Hiro [Science]

 **Male 2:**

 **DO NOT SEND IN A VIRTUOSO WHOSE BEST SUBJECT HAS ALREADY BEEN DONE!**


	3. Prologue and Final Info

**Okay, I wrote, edited and published this quickly.**

 **This was so you all got to know my writing style. I hope I wrote Arisato alright, however everyone in this chapter was slightly OOC cause, well, who wouldn't be when around Gakuhou?**

 **Usually chapters will be 4x this length, and will take a lonnng time to write. This was just a short introduction.**

 **For those who submitted OC's, I thought of some useful things to have when I was writing them up.**

 _ **If any of you submitted females, knowing their cup size would be useful. Also, if any of them, male or female, had clubs, could you please review/pm and say? If you don't reply I won't bring it up in the fanfic. One submission mentioned several other characters and the OCs relation with them, so if you wanted to add that by just reading profiles, that's fine. Finally, knowing what they want to be when they are older would also be good. Of course, this IS ALL OPTIONAL. I can go without, it just makes it easier and more descriptive :P**_

 **Anyways, I hope this prologue is okay!**

 **Also, I still need three Virtuosos, and around 10 class E students! I can't really publish the next chapter without them, the students especially!**

* * *

It was eerie to see the school so empty.

There were no students wandering the hallways, none of the joyful chatter, and none of the usual discrimination passed around, of which the sole subjects being the new 3-E kids. No, for now, everyone else was on break – likely asleep. Only a few people were at the school at this ungodly hour. Omori and Arisato were two of them.

They walked side by side along the pristine corridors that they used to call home. The air conditioning was on low, and Arisato let herself smile slightly. It would be the last time she felt this pleasant chill for a while. Nervously, her hand snaked along under the knot at the top of the tie. Pulling at it, she gulped, feeling the hot sweat under her school blouse chill with the air. No wonder she was nervous; this was the first time she was meeting with the Chairman since she defied her own class, was thrown down to 3-E and became that classes female representative. Of course she felt a little hot under the collar.  
"Hey, it'll be fine, Arisato-san." Arisato looked up at her taller companion; Omori Takayuki, 3-E's new male class representative. He looked down, his narrow brown eyes watching Arisato. She looked away, pushing a part of her brown fringe in front of her face.  
"You have to understand how I'm nervous though. Aren't you?" Arisato replied calmly.  
"Of course. You can't let it show though."  
"For goodness sake, Omori-kun, he isn't going to kill us for being a little worried!"  
"I'd still prefer it if I can avoid giving him the satisfaction of knowing that his intimidation was working." Omori replied, looking back in front. Arisato quickened her pace to match with Omori's steady one.  
"I'll just charm him then." Arisato shrugged.  
"Good luck with that; he knows your ways. Former A-Class students never fly under the radar."  
"Fair point. You don't have that problem."  
"Well I _did_ come from B, not A."  
"Honestly, I never thought I'd be envious of that." Arisato brushed Omori's words off, shaking her hair before pulling it into a high ponytail. She needed full focus for this upcoming conversation.  
"Yeah, it's not something one person would expect." Omori agreed, before stopping. A door up ahead was opening. Arisato recognised this door; it was the one to the Chairman's office. Wow; she hadn't realised how close she and Omori were. Beside her, the taller boy had stopped as well, his kariage shading the right side of his face. Arisato recognised the newcomers as two class members of class D. They must be the new class representatives.

"Oh, what do we have here?" The female mocked, tossing her long chestnut hair over her shoulder.  
"Class E scum." Her blonde companion chortled. "I'm surprised the Chairman can even stand your presence."  
"He hasn't had the chance to see our grace yet." Omori snapped back.  
"What makes you think you can talk to _us_ like that?" The guy narrowed his eyes, walking over to Omori. Despite that Omori was slightly taller, he backed away and looked down slightly. Arisato scowled. This was exactly what she tried to speak up against last year; ruthless discrimination. Now she was one of them herself. She wanted to put the D class in their place – although she couldn't now she was E Class. Maybe last year when she was in A, she would be able to tell them off. After all, to them she would have been one of the elite, unaware she was scrapping with school policies just to stay in A.  
"Just make sure you know your place, alright, E?" The blonde guy spat, and Omori winced slightly.  
"Yeah – you don't belong here anymore." The girl grinned maliciously, lacing her arm in the guys. He backed away from Omori and nodded.  
"Also, girl. Get some fashion style!" The female representative laughed, "Your skirt is WAY too long, and those pins don't match your hair – what do they even mean?" With a smirk, the duo walked off. Arisato's hand went up to the pins in her hair. They pulled her reddish brown hair from her face, with the pattern 'XXII'.  
"Aren't they roman numerals? Or am I overthinking that?" Omori was looking up now, at Arisato.  
"Yeah, they are…"  
"If those two don't know that, I'd be worried." Omori shrugged, "But then, they're the morons here, aren't they?"  
"I'm not – well, yeah, I guess they are." Arisato offered a tentative smile, "I mean, they'd usually know what 22 is in roman numerals, right?"  
"Right. I think we should swap classes."  
"Heh, yeah. Thanks, Omori-kun."  
"For what?"  
"For cheering me up after that."  
"…Um, okay, sure." Omori smiled slightly. He wasn't entirely sure why he managed to cheer her up, but he knew better than to question it. He turned to the slightly open door. Through it was the chairman, ready to do his traditional, annual talk to the new class E representatives. Although the disparity in the content and fairness could not be bigger, it was still essential to attend. Omori knew neither he nor Arisato wanted to go, but they didn't have a choice. He took a tentative step forward, resting his hand on the door handle. He looked at it, tightening his grip and watching his mocha coloured knuckles pale in colour.  
"Ready for this?" Arisato asked, coming up behind Omori. After hesitation, he nodded and pushed the door open.

* * *

Gakuhou was bored.

He had been talking to students for a long time. He started off with his own son, Gakushuu, as well as the other four students who made up the Five Virtuosos. They were all very different; the small one in particular stuck in his mind. Tokisaka, if we remembered rightly. She was so small – just 140cm. Her way with words was extraordinary though.

The B, C and D class representatives were nothing special though. They were just the same ordinary students as last time – boring, plain and obviously smart. This had to be the first time Gakuhou wanted to move onto the talk with class E. He didn't value the delinquent students at all. Rather, it was their teacher who he wanted to query. He had to introduce the new teacher, before ensuring he was tucked away in the mountains for good.

After all, Nagisa Shiota was one force he didn't want to reckon with.

The Chairman looked up as his door slowly opened. Smoothing his auburn hair back, he observed the two students standing in the doorway. The two Class E representatives.

Gakuhou still remembered how long it had taken him to decide on these two to be representatives. Many of the class were sadistic and small, so those qualities did narrow it down. However, none seemed to be perfect for the role.

Omori Takayuki was the first he decided. The former class B came off as a delinquent to many, due to his rather questionable wardrobe. However, he was responsible, and supportive. The only bad thing about him was his lack of good grades which permitted his fall to E Class. Other than that, the male seemed to be a good choice – responsibility, good looks and startling orange/brown eyes. Gakuhou just hoped his sadistic tendancy of playing 'cat and mouse' grew out with age and his new found role. Not that the Chairman really cared.

Arisato Chinatsu took a little longer to decide. She had been class A, and a very clever student. Not to mention, she had supported the mute Niijima, being the only one to fully communicate with him. The duo had both ended up in E Class. The girls red eyes captivated all that looked at her, and her charming personality appealed to all. Eventually, that was her downfall, as she tried to stand up for Class E and as a result was placed in that class.

In hindsight, Gakuhou felt like he made the right choice for representatives.

"Ah, Arisato-san, Omori-san, I was beginning to wonder if you had gotten yourselves lost." Gakuhou started off with saying.  
" _Gomen."_ Omori replied without hesitation, as both students bowed to him. Gakuhou got to his feet as the two representatives straightened.  
"So, it's a new school year. I hope you two are up to the challenge of representing your class, no matter how troublesome they prove to be." Gakuhou looked at their faces for a reaction. Omori glanced at Arisato, but she was staring straight at Gakuhou. She was remembering her bad luck in A Class last year, of course.  
"I am aware you've been told in advance that your teacher is Yukimura-sensei. However, that is not the case."  
"What do you mean?" Arisato couldn't help herself from asking that.  
"There's been a change in the staffing in the Class 3-E building." Gakuhou turned to focus his stare on Arisato, "So I think it's only fit to let you two meet him before the school term starts." Omori and Arisato nodded at his words. Gakuhou looked up before calling; "You can come in now."  
The door slowly widened as someone stood in the entrance. Omori and Arisato both turned to see the newcomer.

It was fair to say that they were both underwhelmed.

The man – no, boy – was just under Arisato's height, and his bright blue eyes matched his neatly cut hair. He wore a dark blue waistcoat, and Omori would have thought that if he had longer hair, the male would have had the perfect figure for a girl.  
"… You look like a student." Omori pointed out, before widening his eyes, realising what he said.  
"Yeah, I get that a lot." The bluenette smiled slightly, "My name's Shiota Nagisa, but to you it will be Nagisa-sensei, okay?"  
"Alright." Arisato smiled, "My name's Arisato-san, and this is Omori-kun."  
"Yes, I know." Nagisa closed his eyes, smiling at them, "You're the representatives for my new class, _hai?"_  
"We are." Omori nodded, his emotionless mask cracking slightly.  
"Great! I look forward to teaching you." Nagisa responded. The two representatives looked at each other, clearly surprised with Nagisa's carefree attitude.  
"We thought it be fit that you two meet Nagisa-san before classes start." Gakuhou interrupted with his clear, cool voice. All three turned to look at him.  
"It makes sense, I suppose." Omori added.  
"Yeah – at least we know what to expect now, right?" Arisato continued, looking back at Nagisa. The bluenette nodded, laughing slightly.  
"Right."  
"That's all I have to say to you two." Gakuhou looked to the class representatives. They both bowed to Gakuhou, before bowing at Nagisa. After hesitation, the students turned, heading towards the door. Just before they left, Arisato stopped and turned around, looking back at them.  
"May I ask a few questions, Nagisa-sensei?"  
"You may." Nagisa nodded, ignoring the thunderous look on Gakuhou's face.  
"How old are you?" Omori turned hearing Arisato's question, so off guard and careless.  
"I'm 23." Nagisa replied without pausing.  
"That's quite young!" Arisato widened her eyes in surprise.  
"Yes, it is. I'm only here for training, though." Nagisa returned.  
"Oh, that makes sense. Sorry for bothering you two!" Arisato quickly responded before bowing her head and backing out, closing the heavy door behind her.

* * *

Nagisa immediately turned to look at Gakuhou when they had gone.  
"I like those two. They're good choices. Are the entirety of my class like this?" He questioned, his eyes shining. Looking down at him, Gakuhou growled slightly.  
"Actually, wait, I remember from the list you gave me!" Nagisa exclaimed, "A very varied lot, yes? From 110 to almost 180 cm – hair of brown, pink, black, blue, and more – violence issues, tiredness, absence – oh, and don't forget that many of them came from class A. Maybe next time you should be more wary about who you class as your school's elite, and where they may end up." He smiled innocently, looking at the Chairman  
"I know what you're capable of, Nagisa-san. Don't think I know why you chose the deserted class."  
"Oh, I'm not going to train them or anything – why would you even think that?" Nagisa laughed slightly.  
"I know what you're like."  
"Well who is to say that I'm still like that?" Nagisa pointed out.  
"Someone like you doesn't change that quickly. Hear me now; I will be keeping a close eye upon 3-E this year. If I spot any change in their behaviour, or any rapid advancement in their skills, I'll take you down once and for all. After all," Gakuhou paused to straighten out his tie, "I'm the one with the power here. You have to listen to me. This school needs their inspiration to keep their grades up."  
"If you say so." Nagisa nodded, his eyes narrowed slightly, "But what if I just wanted to give a bunch of rejected kids a good time before graduation?" Without waiting for an answer, the small teacher swept out of the office. The chairman shivered, swivelling his chair round. He felt as if a snake had just bitten him – weakness and exposure coursing through his veins. That didn't matter right now though. He had Nagisa under his thumb – the one he had been looking to pin down for years. A few more months couldn't hurt… right?

Right?


	4. Start Time! - Part 1

**Chapter word count: 6,300 words**

 **Wifi is struggling to update the chapter, it keeps deleting the Authors note xD**

 **So I hope this chapter is okay - I had to split it into two parts cause 11k + words. I haven't yet edited the second part, and whilst I have edited this one, it's 11pm at night so eh. I hope I personified everyone's characters okay - I didn't go into too much detail since I had to introduce as many as possible. The second half definitely does! I'll start responding to reviews next chapter. I took advice I got from the prologue and I changed the spacing - it had just been a habit for me before to do single-line spacing.**

 **See the bottom of the chapter for more notes, including a full chapter list.**

 **I hope this is okay, because seriously I'm worried I got someone too OOC - even though I spent almost 2 weeks typing to make sure I kept them as close to character as possible. WHICH REMINDS ME - Sorry if Nagisa is OOC, there's very little material with him as a teacher so I'm slowly getting used to it.**

 **Cya next time, Raven.**

 _ **!IMPORTANT! I still need information from the following people; if you spot your character in this list can you review/pm with the information? Thanks, and sorry for asking so much - I want to make this as good as possible!**_

 _ **Cloriko Gastumatsee: Clothing, Aspirations, Previous Club, Cup size**_

 _ **Ryu Kisoka: Aspirations, Previous Club**_

 _ **Kokoro Fujioka: Aspiration, Previous Club, Cup size**_

 _ **Yukio Joyce: Aspiration (Assuming he didn't have a Previous Club as he is a transfer)**_

 _ **Echo Shinoa: Aspiration, Previous Club**_

 _ **Shion Arisa: Clothing, Aspiration, Previous Club, Cup size**_

 _ **Kuro: Clothing, Aspiration, Previous Club**_

 _ **Shouta Endou: Clothing, Aspiration, Previous Club**_

 _ **Ari Sato: Clothing**_

 _ **Tatsukawa Ken: Aspiration, Previous Club**_

 _ **Kazuko Hikari: Clothing, Previous Club**_

 _ **Yuri Yoshitoki: Aspiration**_

 _ **Megumi Chiyo: Aspiration, Previous Club**_

 _ **Katsuo Mao: Clothing, Previous Club**_

 _ **Hikaru Shachimato: Clothing, Aspirations, Previous Club, Cup size**_

* * *

The air was chilly as Kumino Mikoshi made his way up the mountain.

The sun was shining, just peaking over the horizon. Dew still lingered on the blades of grass and birds were merrily chirping in the trees. Occasionally, the leaves formed a green corridor over the dusty path, covering the student's walkway in spots of dappled light. Honestly, it was rather pretty. Kumino was left wondering why the hazardous view of the mountain most of the school held even existed.

Although, they were 3-E. Why did he even question it?

Twirling one of his curls on his bangs with his ring finger, Kumino sighed. He hadn't wanted to be here – he was completely innocent, after all. He hadn't been the one to take the trophy out of the cabinet. The true culprit had been those students. Of course, when Asano spotted Kumino with the trophy, how was he supposed to defend himself? Kumino's right eyelid twitched as he thought about it. His eyes – the colour of a happy dawn – strayed upwards, looking at the branches on the trees. He remembered the last time he was this far away from home on his own. It had been his last day in 2-B. The bullies had a feast. Kumino's 'going away present', as they liked to call it. A shiver travelled up his spine as the feminine boy crossed his arms over his body.

"Kumino-kun!" A voice called for him. He turned rapidly, his eyes widened at the sudden noise, like a rabbit on alert from a hunter. He needn't be worried. Running up the mountainside was a girl he recognised from his previous class, who he knew also fell to class 3-E. Shimizu Miho had been known as the 'darling' of class 2-B. She was a patient listener and hostile to outsiders. However, to all in her class, they knew her as a friendly companion who was perfect girlfriend material. If Kumino was honest, he could tell where they were coming from, although he never felt this attraction himself. Her long, ash brown hair tumbled freely down her back, fading into a soft pink ombre. As Shimizu ran to catch up with Kumino, said hair blew behind her, forming a long stream behind her. Kumino stopped to allow the girl to reach him.

"Shimizu-san." Kumino nodded at her. Whilst the two may not have been very close, they were both quiet and observant, to a degree. Being on the outside of the group suited both of them fine.

"You decided to come earlier as well then?" Shimizu tilted her head, starting to walk. Kumino copied her speed, walking alongside her. He tried not to be put off by the fact that her intense, electric blue eyes were staring right through him.

"Yeah – I didn't want to risk being late on the first day." Kumino smiled slightly, "I really don't need to deal with such a disaster right now."

"Yeah, I can imagine so!" Shimizu agreed, nodding her head. Kumino didn't reply, his gaze wandering away again. He spotted Shimizu looking ahead from the corner of his eyes. Privately, Kumino was vaguely irritated by the way the beautiful girl was his height, yet was so lithe and light. However, he didn't hold onto it. Without realising, Kumino's hand had wormed its way into his bag, grasping his glasses case. He didn't take them out though, as he was wearing his contacts. Shimizu seemed to notice as her eyes quickly flickered down to Kumino's bag before looking back forwards. Her head was swaying side to side in time with a nameless imaginary beat. The side of Kumino's mouth raised slightly with a half-hearted smile. Lost in her own world… just like him.

Ah. The building.

Kumino hadn't even seen it in the horizon, but now the duo had walked onto ground which wasn't trying to throw them off his feet. It was just as he expected it to be - run-down, neglected and to anyone who wasn't aware of the class, abandoned. It was a ghastly way to spend his last year of Junior High.

"Are you sure we aren't too early?" Shimizu's words pulled Kumino out of his train of thought. The female was looking at the windows, situated to the right of the door. The boy squinted, trying to make out the distorted shadows from the actual shapes. After a few seconds, Kumino was able to make out what appeared to be a head at the front; perhaps someone asleep. Someone also seemed to be leaning against the window, blocking a large part of the remaining view.

"I'm sure – after all, some people did have the same idea." Kumino responded with a shrug.

"Yeah, I guess that's true." Shimizu nodded, her eyes darting over to Kumino. He looked back at her, eyes wide.

"You feeling alright?" He asked.

"Just… nervous, I guess," Shimizu replied, biting her lip slightly, "I mean, I know some of our old class are here – but what if they _change?_ What if they won't like us?"

"Are you, the infamous beauty known as Shimizu-san, worried you won't get friends here?" Kumino smiled, although not without an unusual hint of mockery, "You'll be absolutely fine – they'll love you, and besides, you always have me."

"Yeah, but when you put it like that it sounds like I'm only concerned with myself!" Shimizu answered back, her eyes shining.

"I'm sure you aren't." Kumino laughed slightly at Shimizu's concern. Behind his companion, Kumino noticed the person leaning against the window turn their – her – head slightly, watching. There seemed to be a fringe blocking her eyes, although the small boy noted her light-toned skin.

"Now you don't even sound sure." Shimzu's smile faltered slightly, and Kumino knew he had gone too far.

"I'm certain, trust me." Kumino insisted. Not entirely convinced, Shimizu looked over to the glass; the girl watching them earlier turned as she did so. A flawless hand snuck to the end of Shimizu's hair as she ran her fingers through her flowing locks.

"I'll take your word for it then." Shimizu broke the awkward silence, before heading over to the doors. Kumino followed, going quiet and once again sinking into his own world. He snuck a look back at Shimizu, noting all the little details which he hadn't noticed back in B class. Her face was pristine, her eyes rimmed with makeup, probably. Her clothing was tailored to her body shape perfectly. If a person looked hard enough, it wasn't difficult to tell that Shimizu's family was wealthy. She didn't boast about it though, so sometimes children didn't know. The more mature ones would recognise her family name from the many lines of technology products they shipped – they were the owners of the well-developed company _Shimtech_.

Noiselessly, Shimizu pushed upon the doors, walking into the corridor. Kumino kept up with her, closing it behind. Despite the lack of air conditioning and heating, the inside of the building was warmed to a pleasant temperature. Prickles travelled up Kumino's back regardless and he dodged to the side. Seconds later, a drop of cold water dripped down to where he was standing.

"Nice dodge." Kumino turned to Shimizu, who was watching him closely, her sharp gaze fixed on him.

"Thanks." Kumino nodded rather stiffly, before proceeding to walk towards the classroom door. He mentally cursed himself. _Why do I feel so 'off' today?_ He brushed his dark brown bangs from his right eye to no avail, as they simply fell back in place. _I'm probably just nervous. Yeah, that must be it. Shimizu-san wouldn't have helped either; we never tended to speak to each other much before now anyways. It's just the new bond of E Class which binds us._ The door to the classroom was already slightly open. Kumino stopped by it pausing.

"Are you okay?" Shimizu came up next to him, looking down slightly at him. Kumino flinched slightly at this careless yet meaningful thought. Of course, all the boys had to look down at him – he was just used to being eye-level with the girls. It agitated him when there was one higher than him. He didn't show it though, or let it bother him much – after all, being annoyed at something as petty as height was pointless.

"Yeah – I'm just wondering what this classroom holds. Horrors, maybe."

"I'm sure it won't be awful." Shimizu shrugged before pushing the door open herself. Immediately, two of the students in there turned to face them, making Kumino hesitate even more. A total of five students were already there, and as he walked in, he got a better look at them.

The one leaning against the window was observing them with one cool cornflower eye. The other was hidden behind a thick fringe which obscured the whole left half of her face. As she turned away, Kumino tried to think of who she was, yet he didn't know. She must have been from class C or D if he didn't. Her arms were crossed and her long brown hair spilled over her shoulders. Kumino got the feeling she wasn't available for conversation.

The other student watching her was infamous within the school. Not only was he the shortest student out of all three years, his silver or white (Kumino could never decide which) hair and late entry made him stand out. He was Shinoa Echo. He used to be in A Class, and his grades were rumoured to match the Five Virtuosos, even though he only joined Kunugigaoka in the second year. He stood out compared to everyone else at the school; he had an unusual heritage and eyes, plus he was actually quite violent. Kumino was certain Shinoa was moved down due to violence.

At that moment, Kumino realised he had been staring at Shinoa and looked away. As he did so, Shinoa also turned his head, resting his chin on his arms. His braid fell across the desk, obscuring a lot of his face from view. The feminine boy looked away.

As it turns out, what he thought had been a head in the window turned out to be one - in the window seat in the first girl, a girl was deep in slumber. Once again, Kumino didn't know her name, although he saw her once or twice with some D Class students. Her face was completely hidden by a mane of brown hair, with blue highlights glistening in the sun. She was leaning on something – a book of some sort. It vaguely reminded Kumino of a video gaming manual.

The final two students were deep in silent conversation. Everyone knew them; Arisato Chinatsu and Niijima Yu. The redhead and bluenette were ex-A Class, and Arisato was both ex-Student council and now the Female Rep. Niijima, her male blue-haired friend, was unique in a way which the whole school knew – he was mute. Only Arisato knew enough sign language to properly communicate with him, and no one else bothered. Kumino admired her patience. The silvery eyed boy would be hard to understand, especially since he had been bullied and become more introverted than ever.

"Well this looks lively." Shimizu muttered quietly. Kumino looked at her before shrugging, heading over to the girl with blue highlights in her hair. Shimizu hesitated and didn't follow. She was more cautious than her classmate. Spotting some paper on the desk, she headed over, twisting her hair slightly. It seemed to be a seating plan. She quickly traced her name. _Huh,_ Shimizu thought, _I'm next to Kumino. At least I'm by the window._

* * *

Shinoa had been the first to arrive. He had immediately checked his seat number – 26 – and sat there. He wasn't keen on talking to anyone. He was already finding it embarrassing enough that his feet barely scraped the floor. He could do without the taunting.

Echo was just steeling himself now, and preparing himself for the bullying bound to arise from a number of 'classmates' (or enemies, as the boy liked to 'affectionately' call them). Perhaps if his looks didn't stand out so much, he would be okay. However, with long moon white hair and light brown skin, he wasn't hard to miss. Add the fact that Shinoa was only 110cm and that his eyes were peculiar, to say the least, and one had the recipe for a disaster. By strange, Shinoa didn't even mean slightly odd, like an intense stare. No, they were atypical. His left eye was peachy orange with purple splats, and his right was blue with golden splats. He didn't think the splats were there at birth; an unfortunate result of his childhood traumas. That's what Shinoa thought, anyway.

He had been watching the newcomers to make sure none of the bullies arrived. So far, so good. The fringe girl had arrived just after him, also coming early. Since he was previously 2-A (not 1-A since he joined in the second year), he was automatically supposed to know the names of all students in his year. Of course, he glossed over most of them. He remembered this girls name though – Sekine Rinee. Probably because Rinee was Latin for reincarnation, not Japanese. Sekine had just stayed by the window and watched.

The sleeper was the other early arrival. Now, her name was Zamura Namuri. Shinoa hadn't known that, but when he arrived he had spent a small while trying to memorise the seating plan. It seemed like it worked. Shinoa didn't know Zamura's previous class, but since he didn't know it was likely D. For some reason, a nerd with blue highlights in her hair popped up in his memory. The boy didn't know why.

Niijima and Arisato had acted like Shinoa had predicted – straight to a sign language conversation which the kitten – Echo – didn't understand.

Shinoa knew Shimizu – who didn't – when she walked in. She actually struck Echo as a bit arrogant, which surprised him. A girl like Shimizu would have boys throwing themselves at her feet, yet it seemed as if she was above them. Apart from the boy she walked in with. Shinoa didn't remember his name, but he went over to Zamura, trying to gently wake her up and talk to her. Shinoa narrowed his eyes. How could the feminine boy do that? Shinoa knew he wouldn't. He wouldn't want people to judge him.

A movement caught Shinoa's eye, and he lifted his head up. Someone else had just walked in – a girl with scarlet hair cascading unrestrained down her back. She clutched a book close to her chest, which seemed to be… poems? A poet? Shinoa knew this girl now. Her name was Arisa Shion. She was an ex-C Class member who Shinoa always remembered seeing at many clubs. What was she doing here? With a shock, he realised that Arisa sat next to him. He instinctively tensed as Arisa looked over at the seating plan. He noted her knuckles tightening around her book, becoming white. Shinoa kept a close eye on her as Arisa moved to the side, sitting crossed legged on the floor, almost diagonal to Shinoa. He let out a breath he hadn't realised he had been holding.

Whilst he thought, more students slowly started to trickle in, and Shinoa turned his head to watch them. Two tall students had just walked in, followed by Omori, the male representative. Shinoa watched Omori slowly stride over to Niijima and Arisato, who waved. His fingers fumbled with a black inner necklace studded with iron spots, pulling it off. Shinoa noted this, before turning his attention to the other two.

They both looked similar, sharing similar features. The girl was giant; her size was a good 2 feet more than Echo at 180cm. Her short brown hair was cut around the ears, and her brown eyes swivelled around the class. The boy was smaller, but shared similar features. Shinoa knew the girl - Kagami Mickelle. The boy must be her younger brother, Kagami Shaun. Shinoa knew Shaun had been raised in Dominica, and due to the gap in schooling he was able to enter 3-E instead of 1-B like he was supposed to. It was an extremely rare case, but Shaun was an exception. He had proven himself too attached to the sister he was raised apart from anyway.

The duo moved to the back, talking, as Shinoa detected more people setting foot into the class. Kuro was next, known as the emotionless calculator to a few. He was from class C, and was known to be all but immune to outer effects. It was almost as if Kuro was hiding something, but no one was close enough to him to find out. Kuro seemed to be exuding a dangerous aura, telling people to _back off._

Endou Shouta. He followed almost immediately after Kuro, and Shinoa was surprised he remembered Endou's full name. He was from Kuro's class so it made sense the two entered together. However, unlike Kuro, Endou walked over to Shimizu and Zamura, who were quietly talking. Shinoa observed the boy – he used to be rich and famous, he knew that much. Something happened with his parents though, which meant Shouta was suddenly thrust under the black of anonymity. It didn't stop him from being popular in the school – until his grades slipped and the flirty, onyx eyed boy ended up here.

There was a bit of a gap now, and Shinoa closed his eyes. He was exhausted; he would happily be anywhere but here right now. The lively buzz of chatter was starting to fill his ears, and Shinoa clamped his hands over them, frustrated. It was the scratching of chalk that made him stir, opening his orange eye.

A new girl was at the board, starting to doodle. Her curled hair fell freely over her shoulders, and her skirt was long; it was below her knee, which was how Shinoa knew her as Iwamoto Reina. She was the only girl who did that, to his knowledge. Iwamoto seemed to be drawing a flower, however, not incredibly well, if Shinoa was honest. She had attracted the attention of Sekine, who walked over, as well as Arisa who peered up from her poetry anthology. Another layer was added to the blanket of voices, and it took Shinoa a few seconds to process Sekine's movement. She had started advising Iwamoto on her artwork.

The next two who walked in were rather booming. The first one stalked in, and Shinoa knew him as Kisoka Ryu. He was infamous for beating up a bully and landing himself in E Class. No one truly knew his motive, and no one dared get close enough to the cold boy to ask. Following directly behind Kisoka, ruffling the black hair of the anti-social student was possibly the dullest student there; to Shinoa, at least. He only knew Inoue Hideki due to his bright orange bowl cut. As soon as the duo walked in, Inoue's hand fell as his eyes darted around all the students. Kisoka broke away immediately, sitting in front of Shinoa. _Strange,_ Shinoa thought, _he got the right place, yet he didn't look at the sheet._

"What are you looking at?" Kisoka snapped at Shinoa. The chibi boy hadn't realised he was staring at Kisoka, and immediately looked away.

"Good. Looking down is where you belong, Shinoa-kun." Kisoka growled, turning away again. Shinoa's fists clenched; of course he would be seated near the bully. It was so typical. Pushing his displeasure aside, Shinoa turned back to the door. No one new had walked in, although from the fact that Shimizu, Endou and Zamura were looking out the window, someone must have walked past. It was just a rational guess though.

Someone else had arrived now; or rather, two people. A girl and a boy. The boy had his arm wrapped around the girl, seemingly supporting her. Shinoa tilted his head in interest. He knew the girl – Fujioka Kokoro. She was from his old class, but she had a lethal illness which meant she was at the doctors a lot. Shinoa remembered examinations last year. She collapsed right in the middle of them, and wasn't seen the rest of the year.

Fujioka probably ended up here due to her illness; it was obvious she still suffered from aftereffects, due to her blonde hair hanging limp and lifeless. Shinoa didn't recognise the boy helping her though. He must have a kind heart. Fujioka bowed to him once she let go of the boy, and he wordlessly nodded back, his short hair ruffling slightly. The boy went up front, peering at the seating plan whilst Fujioka's interest was taken by the artwork on the chalkboard. Sighing, Shinoa lowered his head again. The bell was about to ring.

* * *

The stream of students had slowed now, as students slowly started flocking like sheep to their seats. Fujioka Kokoro stared at the sheet. She didn't recognise most of the names, since she hadn't had the time to socialise like others. Now, her speedy grey eyes were flicking over the names. A few were vaguely recognisable, but the only one she truly knew was Ken Tatsukawa – the boy who had helped her up the mountain when she lost her breath. He had just moved from Singapore, and therefore could speak little Japanese. It was only Fujioka's ability to speak many languages that allowed her to surpass language barriers. Of course, she didn't know much Malay, but she knew the basics.

There. Fujioka rested a bony finger on her name. She sat on the second row, second from the wall – next to Kisoka. Fujioka _did_ remember him. The other side of her was someone called Joyce Yukio. _Never heard of him,_ the girl thought as she made her way over to her seat. Kisoka looked up with one lazy eye, eyeing her up and down as if she was a piece of fresh meat. Fujioka looked down. She didn't mind too much, she just knew people tended to stare at her figure; one which was bordering skeletal.

With an exasperated sigh, Fujioka slid into her seat. Her bag fell to the floor and she leant down, digging her elbows into the table. _Damn,_ her shoulders hurt.

"Hey, what's with all the bluenettes this year?" Fujioka looked over at the word. Three girls – no, two girls and a boy – were standing grouped together by the window. Of them, Fujioka only recognised Shimizu. It was the boy who had spoken.

"What do you mean?" That came from the girl sitting down, her hair pulled back in a scruffy ponytail.

"You know what I mean, Zamura-san." Endou shrugged, "I mean, there's you with your blue highlights, then wordless over there – "

"Excuse me?" Arisato turned to face them, her eyes shining with what seemed to be anger.

"Well he's wordless, isn't he?" The boy retorted. Fujioka looked at Arisato's blue haired companion – the mute blue-haired boy was looking at the ground. With a nervous shiver, Fujioka noted that most of the class had gone silent. Arisato crinkled her nose slightly, and Fujioka hunched her already shaking shoulders, hands gripping the opposite elbows.

"That still isn't a very nice thing to say." Arisato snapped back.

"It was just the truth!" The brown haired boy raised his hands in a sarcastic surrender. Arisato looked like she wanted to retaliate before Niijima – Fujioka remembered his name now – grabbed her wrist. Arisato immediately slacked and turned away.

"Anyways. There's Zamura-san, Niijima-kun, and now this guy." The boy turned to look out the window again, and several others followed suite.

"Arisato-san." Omori cut across the chatter slowly starting to resurface. He had been one of the ones to look out. Arisato turned to him, still clearly ticked off from earlier.

"It's him, right?" She asked. Omori silently nodded. The duo walked to the front, before heading out the class, leaving Fujioka watching them clearly confused. Niijima was also left standing alone, and he eventually wandered back to his own seat.

"Who's 'him'? To me, this person is a girl," Shimizu commented breezily.

"He's wearing trousers," Zamura quietly added.

"But he –she – they aren't even in school uniform, so there's a high chance they aren't a student or don't care about rules. Either way, we won't know for a while, so shut up about it already." Sekine snapped. She was leaning over from her position near the board. Her sharp words stunned the three into a silence which was only broken by the sound of wood scraping against wood. The door which Arisato and Omori pulled shut on their exit was opened. The two class reps re-entered the room, followed by a boy with light blue hair, shorter than both of them.

Immediately, Fujioka sat up. There was something dangerous about the person's aura which made her feel as if she had to. She seemed to be one of the only people who were watching the newcomer as the friendly sound of talking filled the room.

"Excuse me?" The person started to say. No one paid any attention. Sighing, the man walked up front, placing his briefcase down.

"Class, silence!" As if on cue, most of the class fell quiet and turned to look at him. Omori and Arisato glanced at each other before looking back to him. Fujioka shivered.

"My name is Shiota Nagisa, although you can just call me Nagisa-sensei. I will be your teacher this year!" Nagisa exclaimed, smiling. Fujioka's eyes widened. Him as their teacher? He didn't look any older than them! The class was still so quiet, a mouse's squeak could be heard.

"So… if you would all take your seats, please. I think it's time for rolecall." Nagisa set down his registration book. No one had moved. Nagisa eyed the class before clearing his throat. They began slowly shifting, moving to their respective places. Fujioka looked around as they did so, noticing something; apart from Ken, the entirety of the back row was missing. The two on her left were also gone – that was Joyce and whoever sat on the left of him. The one who sat by the window behind Sekine was also missing, as was the seat next to Sekine on her right. _People like being absent on the first day,_ Fujioka pondered.

As people moved to their seats, Fujioka noticed a green-haired girl slipping into the class from the corner of her eye, darting to the front to check her seat. Her hair was pretty, the colour of grass in a fresh field.

"Alright, so we seem to have some missing, but that's fine – we have a large class of 30, so I expected a lot of absences like this." Nagisa started to say.

"Excuse me, sensei, but aren't you a little _young_ to teach us?" Kisoka's deep voice rang out as Nagisa glanced over.

"I think I'm old enough. I just didn't have the money to afford height." Nagisa shrugged smiling.

"Yeah, like many of us…" Fujioka looked behind her at the white-haired Shinoa.

"Agreed." The owner of the voice was unknown to Fujioka, although his curled brown hair would normally distinguish him.

"I must say, I do feel at home with a class smaller in height." Nagisa laughed quietly. The two Kagamis shifted awkwardly – it was only because the boy was younger than everyone by two years that Fujioka even bothered to remember their surname.

"Alright then – for today, I'll take rolecall, and I'll assign class monitors in future. When your name is called, stand and bow please, so I and the rest of the class know who you are," Nagisa declared. The class nodded. Nagisa flipped open his book with one hand and glanced dismissively at the page for a moment, before facing the class once more.

"Takayuki Omori-kun!"

"Here!" Omori stood in his seat, his kariage falling in front of his face as he bowed.

"K –"

"Nagisa-sensei?" A white-haired boy in the third row stood up, behind the empty seat next to Fujioka, "I'd prefer it if you kept my last name a secret. Calling me Kuro-kun is fine."

"As you wish." Nagisa nodded, and Kuro bowed before sitting down, his purple eyes staring around.

"Shion Arisa-san!"

"Here." The girl behind Fujioka stood, her purple eyes staring at Nagisa. After a moment she sat back down, placing her hands back on her lap.

"Shouta Endou-kun!"

"Present!" Endou stood, pushing his wavy brown hair back into its ponytail. It just came out again as he bowed; Fujioka couldn't help but laugh at the mishap.

"Kougyoku Ren-san!"

Silence. Nagisa looked at his book and crossed through something using a pen, before resuming looking at the class.

"Reina Iwamoto-san!"

"Here!" Iwamoto's hair bounced around her shoulders as she got to her feet. Turning to the seat behind Shion, Fujioka had to admire the girl's sharp cheekbones. They made her look mature, despite the infection of freckles spreading from the bridge of her nose.

"Mikoshi Kumino-kun!"

"Here!" The feminine boy who agreed with Shinoa stood, bowing in respect. _Why are so many of the guys feminine,_ Fujioka questioned, _I mean, we don't really have a tomboy, save for Sekine, perhaps. Yet we have countless males with long hair and androgynous forms._

"Katsuo Mao-kun!" No reply.

"Jitsuko Toujo-san!"

"Here." The green-haired girl who barely made it earlier stood. Fujioka noted the scrapes upon her cheek, and how she was almost as tall as the female Kagami. Nagisa seemed to tremble where he stood, looking up at her.

"Ryu Kisoka-kun!"

"Yo." Kisoka raised his head, and Fujioka turned to look at the boy sitting to the right of him. Nagisa opened his mouth, but seemed to think the better of it and closed it again. Perhaps he didn't have the guts to tell Kisoka to stand?

"Rinee Sekine-san!"

"Here." Sekine stood, pushing the fringe out from her left eye, yet it hopelessly fell back in place. Her arms were crossed over her already small chest, as if she was trying to shrink into herself. That was a change from earlier, when she snapped at Shimizu, Zamura and Endou.

"Chinatsu Arisato-san!"

"Here!" The girl sitting in front of Fujioka stood. Her hair pins reflected the light, making Fujioka narrow her eyes.

"Tatsukawa Ken-kun!"

"Present." Ken stood. Fujioka detected a few whipsers dart around the class, although she couldn't tell who from. They probably related to Ken's accent. The Singapore boy probably made a guess as well as he took his seat, letting his black hair hide his eyes as well as he could. It seemed as if he was trying to disappear into the corner of the room.

"Yu Niijima-kun!"

"Here!" Arisato answered for the boy as Niijima got to his feet, his lithe figure swaying slightly.

"Miho Shimizu-san!"

"Here." Shimizu tossed her hair behind her shoulder, smiling. Fujioka shuddered at several of the boys, staring at her.

"Kazushige Ebisawa-kun!" Silence.

"Kazuko Hikari-san!" More silence.

"Shaun Kagami-kun!"

"Here!" Shaun got to his feet. He was second smallest in the class, on account of him being just 12. _He must be bright,_ Fujioka silently commented to herself. She made a mental note to keep that in mind, as the brown-eyed pupil sat down.

"Mickelle Kagami-san!"

"Here." Mickelle stood, towering over everyone at her large height. Fujioka could have sworn that she saw a bead of sweat break out on Nagisa's forehead as he looked at the intimidating, black haired student.

"Kokoro Fujioka-san!"

"Here!" Fujioka finally heard her name and stood. Her hands gripped the desk tightly, making her whole of her bottom arm white. After a quick bow – which made all the blood rush to her head – she sat, ignoring the invasive stares of her classmates around her.

"Cloriko Gastumatsee-san!"

"Here!" All eyes turned to the door where a ginger girl had just run in, breathing heavily.

"Just in time, Gastumatsee-san." Nagisa smile at the girl.

"Sorry sensei, I wasn't too late was I?"

"Not at all. Your seat is between Omori-kun and Inoue-kun." Nagisa gestured to a seat in the front row. Gastumatsee nodded, heading over.

"Oh, and please, call me Cloriko-san since Gastumatsee is far too long." Cloriko dipped her head as she placed her bag down, sitting. Nagisa nodded before resuming.

"Megumi Chiyo-san!" Nothing.

"Ari Sato-kun!"

"Here." A teen leaning back on his chair waved. _I didn't see him when I came in,_ Fujioka thought surprised. His faded red eyes flashed as Fujioka sighed. Another one who didn't get up. Sato just smiled slightly as he pushed his white bangs away from his eyes.

"Namuri Zamura-san!"

"Here!" The blue highlighted girl stood up, bowing. She had to push her glasses up the bridge of her nose to make sure they didn't fall.

"Hideki Inoue-kun!"

"Here!" The boy stood, his clear brown eyes focused directly on Nagisa.

"Echo Shinoa-kun!"

"Here!" The mini boy stood. Fujioka raised an eyebrow. He barely cleared her sitting height. With a satisfied nod, Nagisa closed his rolebook as Shinoa sat back down.

"Nagisa-sensei?" Nagisa looked over at Arisato. The class rep glanced over at Niijima, who quickly signed something. Fujioka wished she knew sign language.

"Niijima noticed you only read out 27 names," Arisato started to say, "… Yet there are 30 seats set out."

"Ah, very observant there." Nagisa complimented Niijima, who looked down embarrassed, "In fact, there are three students who won't be joining us for a number of days."

"Who?" That came from Inoue up front.

"Well." Nagisa paused, thinking, "Next to Fujioka you will see an empty seat." Fujioka turned, pushing her pale blonde hair behind her shoulders. He was referencing the seat Fujioka knew belonged to Joyce.

"That seat belongs to Yukio Joyce-kun. He's arriving within the next few days, as he is a transfer from America. He would have been put into D Class, however, some violent behaviour he displayed means he will be spending his placement here.

The seat besides Sato-kun and behind Sekine-san, as well as the one behind Shaun-kun are students who have been kept away for other reasons."

"I bet one of those is that girl who went psycho on those teachers." Iwamoto casually added.

"Oh, the Mexican one?" Mickelle added. Shinoa sat up.

"Yeah, her. She was only here for a month." Iwamoto shrugged, "She seemed like a bit of a sociopath to me."

"I won't have you talking about your classmates like that." Nagisa firmly scolded. The rising level of noise quietened down again.

"Now, I think it's time we got on. I hope you can ace my classes before graduation – prove your chairman wrong, and kill the low expectations people have of you!"

"What's the point…"Kisoka muttered solemnly under his breath, and Fujioka turned to look at him.

"What do you mean?" She enquired.

"I mean, we're all here because we're fuck ups. Society doesn't care about us. Why even try to get back on track if our attempts won't work?"

"Don't think like that." Fujioka shook her head. Kisoka rolled his eyes, refusing to reply. Fujioka just turned her attention up to the front.

The first lesson was English. As Nagisa introduced this as his favourite subject, Fujioka sat up straighter. She adored languages, and this first lesson couldn't have been a better subject for her. Yet she found, as the lesson continued, her eyelids started to droop. She learnt all of this in hospital already! English verbs weren't hard to understand; it was only the irregulars which were difficult – to see becoming saw, eat becoming ate, think becoming thought.

"Now then, Inoue-kun; which of these sentences is the odd one out?" Nagisa asked the student, pointing to four English sentences written on the board with the worn, white chalk. Inoue opened his mouth to answer before the door to the class was opened; this caused Fujioka to look over, almost simultaneously with the other students. Two students walked in, hopelessly out of breath.

"So sorry we're late, sensei!" The front one bowed apologetically. Her pink twin tails were straying out of her hair ties, and her large pink eyes shone with what seemed to be fear. Fear? Fujioka knew this girl; Ren Kougyoku. She wasn't sure who didn't, as she was the only one with genetic pink hair in the whole school – at least, out of second and third year. The other boy, however, didn't ring any bells in Fujioka's mind; she was sure she would remember a male with braids either side of his ears.

"Yeah, so sorry – we got lost on the way here!" The boy offered a shy smile, turning and looking at Ren, ending up looking right into her eyes. Fujioka raised an eyebrow.

"That's alright – can I ask who you are?" Nagisa glowed at them, picking up the rolebook.

"Kougyoku Ren-san," Ren answered breathless. She busied herself redoing her hair.

"Ah, Ren-san. You're sat there, on the right of Kumino-kun." Nagisa pointed to the feminine boy, who waved. Ren nodded and headed over, her gait heavy.

"Kazushige Ebisawa-kun." The boy turned to look at Nagisa, almost apprehensively.

"Nice to see you here, Ebisawa-kun. You're sitting behind Kumino-kun." Nagisa scribbled in the rolebook as Ebisawa dragged himself over.

"Oh, sensei?" Ren put up her hand.

"Yes, Ren-san?"

"There were four students following us – we ran so they're still late!"

"Okay, thanks – any idea whom?"

Ren nodded in response. Fujioka tilted her head curiously; of course Ren would know who. She seemed to be one of the friendliest and well-connected people at the school.

"Katsuo Mao-kun, Hikaru Shachimato-san, Megumi Chiyo-san and Kazuko Hikari-san." Ren recited without a second thought.

"Ah, so it's all the rest. Thank you, Ren-san." Nagisa beamed at her.

"What about the other 3?" Ebisawa questioned, "I mean, there's seven seats left."

Almost all the class collectively sighed. Fujioka rolled her eyes _. Here we go again._

* * *

 **DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ASSASSINATION CLASSROOM. I only own the plot, Omori and Sekine.**

 **So I hope the first chapter was okay!**

 **So I've noticed whilst the pool of students is diverse, we have no true 'antagonistic' characters. Kisoka and Sekine are mildly angsty, but no true delinquents. Also, a LOT of shy boys.**

 **For those who are curious, here's the final list of 3-E Students, along with where they sit in place of - as in, if Niijima was in the canon, he would sit where Kimura is sitting.**

 **1\. Niijima, Yu (Kimura)  
2\. Arisato, Chinatsu (Kurahashi)  
3\. Inoue, Hideki (Isogai)  
4\. Gastumatsee, Cloriko (Okano)  
5\. Omori, Takayuki (Maehara)  
6\. Zamura, Namuri (Kataoka)  
7\. Kisoka, Ryu (Takebayashi)  
8\. Fujioka, Kokoro (Yada)  
9\. Joyce, Yukio (Mimura)  
10\. Ren, Kougyoku (Nakamura)  
11\. Kumino, Mikoshi (Nagisa)  
12\. Shimizu, Miho (Kayano)  
13\. Shinoa, Echo (Yoshida)  
14\. Arisa, Shion (Kanzaki)  
15\. Kuro (Okajima)  
16\. Toujo, Jitsuko (Hayami)  
17\. Ebisawa, Kazushige (Sugino)  
18\. Sekine, Rinee (Fuwa)  
19\. Endou, Shouta (Muramatsu)  
20\. Iwamoto, Reina (Hazama)  
21\. Kagami, Shaun (Chiba)  
22\. Kagami, Mickelle (Okuda)  
23\. Sato, Ari (Sugaya)  
24\. Ivette, Rosalinda (Hara)  
25\. Ken, Tatsukawa (Terasaka)  
26\. Hikari, Kazuko (Itona in Anime - between Terasaka and Karma)  
27\. Yoshitoki, Yuri (Karma)  
28\. Chiyo, Megumi (Left of Karma)  
29\. Mao, Katsuo (Itona in Manga - between Ritsu and Karma)  
30\. Shachimato, Hikaru (Ritsu)**

 **Here are the other characters:**

 **Five Virtuosos (Excluding Asano):  
\- Tokisaka, Rika (Speciality: Japanese)  
\- Park, Crow (Speciality: Social Studies)  
\- Carmelano, Kayla (Speciality: English)  
\- Kaminari, Hiro (Speciality: Science)**

 **A Class Students:  
\- Ogawa, Shintarou  
\- Matsuri, Kotori**

 **B Class Students:  
\- Takahashi, Arisa  
\- Sasai, Kaguya (Class Rep)**

 **Other:  
\- Akabane, Momoko  
\- Fauth, Vinny **


	5. Start Time! - Part 2

"Hey, Ari!" Zamura looked up, annoyed at the yell. She was sitting by herself under one of the large oak trees surrounding the classroom, her bento box rested on her outstretched legs. The source of the shout had been Ren – the social butterfly had decided to sit with Zamura. She wasn't sure why; it wasn't like she was anything special, save for her blue highlights. Her glasses made her look like the geek she truly was, and her introverted personality kept most people away.

Ren had the choice of all the other students – many were sitting on their own, apart from a few, such as Arisato and Niijima, or the two Kagamis. She had the choice of all of them, so why choose Zamura? The only reason Zamura could think of was because they came from D Class. They hadn't known each other well though. In fact, it was as if they came from different worlds. These thoughts were the thoughts running through said girls mind.

"Who are you yelling at?" Zamura asked, looking up at Ren, who was leaning against the tree. The girl had no lunch, and some classwork – no, homework – was pinned under a rock, which she had been doing just a little while ago.

"Whichever Ari is good at English." Ren shrugged. Zamura's eyes wandered to Ren's homework – the English which Nagisa had set the class earlier in the day.

"Don't you know their names?" Zamura questioned, surprised.

"Yeah, I do – Arisato-san, Sato-kun and Arisa-san. I just can't remember which is good at English."

"How do you even KNOW which one is good at English?"

"I have my ways." Ren grinned, and Zamura looked away. She didn't want to admit she was slightly freaked out. Having company was hard enough anyways. Having a psychotic stalker as company… was a different matter.

"Well wasn't Sato-kun the first to finish in the English quiz we had today?" Zamura suggested.

"Yeah, I think so! He's Evil, right?"

"Excuse me?"

"Evil, because of his eyes!" Ren pointed to her own large, pink ones, grinning, "I assume you don't mean to say Roman and Purple are Sato-kun. After all, they're both female!"

"So where are these nicknames coming from?"

"Oh – I remember everyone by a nickname!" Ren beamed before starting to tell a lengthy story, presumably about why she used nicknames to remember people by. Zamura decided to tune out. She had no interest in these sorts of stories. Instead, she found her mind drifting back to her house, and to her laptop in particular. Daiki and Chihiro still had to make up after the argument they had, and no one had discovered Sen's prank she laid yet. Then, of course, there was Aoi and her… issue. It wasn't bad – just relationship problems. Zamura just rationalised it to the way her game worked.

"Zamura-san, are you listening?" Zamura was harshly pulled from her fantasy by Ren's curt voice.

"Oh, sorry!" Zamura smiled slightly, although she had a feeling it was more of a grimace

"Can you get Sato-kun for me?" Ren requested.

"Why me?"

"I'm going to check over the homework again." Ren shrugged carelessly, "You aren't doing anything important are you?" So eating was no longer important.

"… No." Zamura sighed getting to her feet, after placing her bento box aside.

"Thanks!" Ren smiled before sitting back down, pushing her twin tails aside. Zamura had to wonder how they didn't annoy her – they reached her elbows even when pulled up high. Pulling on the silver locket hanging around her neck, Zamura slowly started walking over to Sato. He was sitting on one of the lower branches of one of the trees, seeming to be asleep. Zamura hesitated. She didn't want to wake anyone up and make them angry.

To try and buy time, Zamura glanced around. To her surprise, she saw a large portion of the boys all gathered around the side of the school building. She didn't even want to know what they were talking about. After a moment, she realised Niijima was with them. Didn't he usually stick with Arisato? What managed to draw him away?

"Zamura-san?" Sato softly called. Zamura looked up to see the tallest male in the class watching her with his deep eyes. It was almost as if she could get lost in them.

"O-oh, hi Sato-kun…" Zamura looked down. After a moment of rocky, awkward silence, Zamura cleared her throat, sweat beads breaking out across her forehead.

"Ren-san wanted your help… with – with the English homework…" Zamura twisted her silver bracelet around her left wrist, her nails gently scratching the '3 Level Up! 3' upon it.

"Ah, right. I'd love to but…" Sato glanced over at the growing gathering of masculinity, "We agreed to meet up, and I forgot."

"Oh, no worries, don't worry!" Zamura waved before turning, walking back over to Ren. She wiped the layer of sweat off her forehead, letting out a breath she hadn't realised she was holding.

"Zamura-san!" Ren waved, noticing the brown-and-blue haired nerd approaching. Arisato was now with her. Of course, what did Zamura expect anyways? Ren was far too social to be alone for long.

"Didn't Sato-kun come with you?" Ren asked.

"No, he went over to the others. Sorry…" Zamura looked down sadly.

"Oh, don't be!" Ren shrugged happily, tossing her hair over her shoulder, "I can ask Gastumatsee-san, she sits in front of me, and she finished quickly as well."

"Surely I'm not the only one wondering what those boys are doing." Arisato inputted, looking over. Every boy was there by now, it seemed.

"No, I am too." Ren nodded, "After all, they've only just got here, and no doubt some of them would be shy!"

"Yu-kun would definitely stay away, if he had the choice." Arisato commented.

"Are you saying he didn't?" Zamura turned to the class rep surprised. Her eyes widened alarmed.

"No, not at all! Ebisawa-kun came over to tell him that all the boys were gathering. He just asked for permission, and, well, looks like I gave it."

"It's not really like you to be submissive like that though." Ren pointed out

"No, I know. I guess I'm just on edge – I'm still full of nerves from the meeting yesterday and-"

"You were nervous?" Ren widened her eyes.

"Yeah – I didn't want to lose the class representative position and after that stunt back in A Class, I was already walking on thin ice." Arisato glanced down.

"Well you came out alive." Zamura hastily mentioned.

"I suppose so." Arisato nodded slightly, agreeing. A few moments of silence settled.

"So do you know what they're talking about or not?" Ren broke the quiet atmosphere.

"Nope."

"Do you want to find out?" The pink haired girl grinned, giggling slightly.

"Are you being serious?" Arisato criticized, frowning.

"Well of course! Zamura-san, you'll come with me, right?" Ren turned to the introvert, who widened her eyes. She wasn't expecting a question – what was she supposed to say?

"U-um…" Zamura stammered, looking around before gulping, "S-sure, I guess…?"

"Yes!" Ren punched the air, clearly happy. Only then did Zamura realise that she had no idea what she just agreed to.

"So… So what are we doing?" Zamura hesitated before asking, perhaps a little quicker than she thought.

"We're going to spy on the boys, of course!" Ren smiled.

"Excuse me, what?" Arisato turned on Ren who backed off slightly.

"Hey, it's just a little fun – you should lighten up sometime." The eccentric female poked her tongue out between her teeth, "I know you just put on this serious, polite front. Be carelessness – let yourself go!"

"I suppose I have little choice now, right?" Arisato replied. She seemed calm, but her eyes were waging a war; disbelief, curiosity and anger.

"Very little! I mean, it's better to participate in something like this then carry the information around – and you can get to know me and Zamura-san better!"

"You're going to make me go anyway, aren't you?"

"Yep!" Ren's eyes crinkled as she bounced from foot to foot. Zamura sighed, aware that nothing she and Arisato said would make Ren change her mind.

"You two just stay quiet now, okay?" Ren added, then without waiting for an answer the hyper girl grabbed Zamura's wrist and pulled her along with a gasp. Zamura tried to pull away, but she gave up after a few seconds. Ren was set on her target. Arisato, after hesitating, followed.

Ren let go of Zamura after a few seconds. She ducked around the side of the ancient school building, proceeding to creep up the back. The wind battered her hair, making the hip-length twin tails hit the building. Wood chips flaked into her hair, but Zamura decided against mentioning it. She herself was struggling to keep her glasses balanced on her nose, tripping over her feet. Arisato was running behind them, running on her toes, as if she was flying with the air.

Unless she just didn't want to get dirty.

That was always an option.

* * *

Reina was bored.

She was leaning against a tree, her empty bento box sitting next to her. The girl didn't want to do her homework now, and the sun wasn't strong enough for her to fall asleep under. Originally, Iwamoto had tried to spend lunch with those who used to be her class in 2-C. That didn't work, for many reasons; Sekine and Kuro weren't friend-material, Arisa was quite anti-social, and Shachimato and Endou just didn't agree with her personality. Ebisawa was the only one Iwamoto would have tried to approach, if he hadn't been with the boys all lunchtime.

Tugging at her curled hair gently, Iwamoto got to her feet, leaving her lunch abandoned. Now she thought about it, she wanted to know what the boys were plotting; they had been talking for a while. Spotting the bluenette there alone was also strange – Niijima-kun, wasn't it?

A flash of pink caught Iwamoto's eye and she turned, her arm raised to block out the sun. She just saw Arisato darting behind the back of the schoolhouse. The pink must mean that either Ren or Shimizu was with her. Iwamoto raised an eyebrow. The class representative, doing something shady? This would be good. Although… did Iwamoto really want to get in trouble on the first day? However, would this be good for her to discover things – not as blackmail but just to find out more?

Curiousity won out eventually. Iwamoto pushed herself up from her tree and started making her way down. She almost tripped over her own feet, instead managing to land steady on the pavement outside the schoolyard. Cursing, Iwamoto looked up before hesitating. If all the boys were at the side of the schoolhouse, wouldn't it be safer to linger inside the house itself and listen through the thin glass? Perhaps Iwamoto could hide in the doorway and still be able to hear. Maybe. It was worth a shot, anyways.

Iwamoto slowly headed towards the school before pushing open the door. She sighed, going quiet as Nagisa's voice echoed down the corridor. Why would he be speaking; wasn't he the only one here? Nosy as she was, Iwamoto headed down to the staff room, pausing outside the door. It was slightly open, and through the minute slit Iwamoto could make out Nagisa leaning over… a tablet?

"Oh, that's great Nagisa-kun!" A voice came from the tablet. _He must be on a call,_ Iwamoto thought.

"Yeah, the class seem like I can handle them." Nagisa joked back.

"I'm sure you can. You're an amazing teacher after all."

"Hah, thanks Ritsu." Nagisa combed a hand through his hair, "I noticed a few of them looking unsteady when I came near them though."

"Unsteady? Are you talking about your aura?"

"Yes; I told you about Fujioka-san, the girl who had melanoma?"

"You sure did."

"She sat up straighter, like she knew I couldn't be messed with. Kisoka-kun and Toujo-san also acted a little meek. I don't want to scare them."

"You'll be fine! So Kisoka-kun is in your class then?"

"Yeah." Nagisa looked up at the window.

"His parents will be thrilled! You knew that boy when he was a toddler – now you get to teach the teenage him." Nagisa had known Kisoka when he was younger then. Iwamoto tilted her head. This would make for a good conversation topic later.

"Maybe, maybe not. I don't see them that much anymore. Can we continue this talk later, Ritsu? Lunch will be over soon." Nagisa turned back to the tablet and Iwamoto backed away. She had completely forgotten about her original task in favour of spying on her teacher. Turning to the left, she focused on the sight of some of the boys through the window. She slowly crept closer, careful not to hit any of the creaky places on the broken floorboards. She ducked into the classroom and swiftly darted to the back, opening the door ever so slightly.

Success! She could hear them, just about, and the door was only a little bit open. Sliding it open a little more, she looked around at the group of boys. She could only see the backs of two of them, but the haircuts told her they were Omori – from his kariage – and Inoue – from the bright orange hair he possessed. Her eyes darted over the rest, counting 12. Someone was missing – Iwamoto just didn't know who.

"I still can't believe you're making us do this now, Shouta-kun." That was Mao, leaning against the school building. He was looking at the flirty classmate leaning on a tree. Shouta's eyes were narrowed and his mouth formed a devious smile which made Iwamoto shiver.

"Well it's better late than never – it's already a let-down two of us aren't here, and two of us stepped out." Shouta laughed quietly.

"You can't blame me for stepping out of this!" Shaun snapped from his sitting position next to Mao. He was sitting with his back to where Arisato and Shimizu/Ren were, so they couldn't see the fire in his eyes.

"Hey, chill out Shaun-kun; that fury doesn't fit the cuteness of your face." Shouta teased, and Shaun narrowed his brown eyes.

"I'm twelve years old! I can't vote on how hot 14 year old girls are!"

Iwamoto widened her eyes? _That,_ of all things, was what the boys were doing? Her opinion of the boys plummeted immediately.

"Just because your sister is there doesn't mean you have to step out of this." Shouta shrugged.

"Now then, Shouta-kun, leave the boy alone." Sato muttered this from the tree he was leaning against, set back from the rest. At this moment, Iwamoto realised there were only two with white hair there, not three. Since Sato had just spoken and Shinoa's size made it obvious he was there, the girl deduced that the missing boy was Kuro. Shouta's head whipped around to face Sato.

"I mean, he's entitled to his own opinion. So, I think we should leave it, _hai?_ After all, Shinoa-kun pulled out as well." Sato pointed out.

"Don't bring me into this." Shinoa warned, no shock in his voice; just threat. Shouta sighed, knowing he was beaten.

"Whatever, still got 11 votes; even Kuro-kun's, before he left." Shouta slid down his tree, wincing as the bark cut into his back and splintered his blazer, "Time to compile them, I say!"

"I already arranged them into piles, just count them." Iwamoto only remembered the name of the sweet speaker after a moment; Ebisawa.

"You of all people? Wow." Shouta smirked.

"No, not like that. I'm not that interested in this stuff." Ebisawa looked down, tugging anxiously on his plaits, "I just don't like discord, and that pile of paper bugged me."

"Fair enough." Shouta turned back to the pile, pushing his wavy hair from his shoulder. It must have fallen over when Iwamoto wasn't looking. She was debating heading back now – if only her feet weren't stuck to the floor by a glue known as curiosity.

"There's a l – " Shouta started to speak before he was cut off.

"Hey guys!" The boy next to Shaun – Kisoka – leaned backwards before lashing his hand out around the corner of the schoolhouse. There was a squeal and Iwamoto widened her eyes.

"H-hey! Let me go!" Was that... Zamura? Shouta shot up, as did Mao, Shaun, Ebisawa and Shinoa – all who were sitting. Kisoka got to his knees before pulling Zamura in. She was curled up, yanking her skirt down.

"This was unexpected…" Inoue muttered, brushing his hair away. Of course, he would know this was unusual, apparently. He and Zamura were both class D, weren't they? Iwamoto stepped forward, now having to duck to see between Omori and Mao.

"This wasn't me I swear, I'm s-sorry, just let me up, y-you're hurting!" Zamura stammered. Clutched in her right hand were a pair of broken glasses.

"Hey, Kisoka-kun, let the girl up. You broke her glasses, after all." Sato commented. After hesitation, Kisoka released his grip and Zamura pulled herself to her feet. She immediately looked down, her face red with a blush.

"I'm so sorry!" Zamura murmured before closing her eyes, "I'm so sorry; this wasn't my idea I promise!"

"I know. Ren-san and Arisato-san just ran off." Kisoka replied, leaning back, viewing where Zamura just came from. Iwamoto nodded slightly, satisfied. She was certain she had seen Ren or Shimizu, and this confirmed it. Out of the corner of her eye, Iwamoto saw Omori shift slightly, looking in the window. His nut brown eyes widened slightly.

That's when Iwamoto fled. She sped out of the classroom and back into the fresh air outside.

Immediately, she started looking around, playing with the waistband of her long skirt. It didn't take her long to spot the dark pink hair of Ren. She was talking with Arisato, Mickelle and Shimizu, and more girls were slowly being drawn over. No doubt she was gossiping about what she just saw. With a nonchalant shrug, Iwamoto walked over.

"Hey, Iwamoto-san!" Shimizu looked over spotting her, and Iwamoto smiled in reply.

"What's going on?" She asked, looking curiously at Ren, who had stopped what seemed to be a long spiel of talking to look at her.

"I saw the boys ranking us on how we look!" Ren exclaimed, her eyes shining. Iwamoto bit her tongue.

"I couldn't believe Arisato-san and Zamura-san went with Ren-san." Shimizu shrugged.

"Trust me, I didn't want to." Arisato retorted, glaring at Ren. The pink haired girl tactfully ignored her class rep.

"Anyways, I think we should do the same to them!" Ren exclaimed.

"Excuse me?" Mickelle laughed quietly.

"I think it would be fun!" Ren motioned to nowhere in particular with her hands.

"I have to agree with Ren-san on this one." Shimizu nodded. Iwamoto tilted her head. She had to admit, doing something like that would be amusing; however, wasn't it a little shallow?

"There's more to a person than their looks, you know." Iwamoto jumped at Sekine's voice behind her.

"So?" Ren shrugged, turning to face the ikeman.

"Do we want to stoop to their level?" That came from Fujioka. She was fully covered, and a hat shaded her eyes.

"Say whatever you like, I think it's a good idea!" Shachimato, coming from nowhere, sat down in the middle of the group.

"I'm talking to a brick wall, aren't I?" Arisato said despairingly, looking down at Shachimato. Ren and Shimizu had gone to join her, and slowly, more girls were giving up the fight and sitting down. Iwamoto didn't really see the point in fighting, so she too sat down. She didn't really want to participate, but she didn't want to get on her classmates bad side on their first day. The only people who remained standing were Gastumatsee and Zamura – she must have arrived back whilst the other girls were arguing.

Iwamoto allowed herself to tune out, whilst keeping one eye on the others to note who they put down. She had no doubt in herself that Shimizu would probably try and get people together based upon this list. Personally, Iwamoto didn't care who she went for. She'd probably go for the most popular.

"Hey, Iwamoto-san!" Iwamoto was harshly brought back to reality by Ren snapping her fingers in front of her face.

"Huh?"

"Who do you choose?" Ren nodded towards the paper, and Iwamoto looked over. Votes for Kisoka, Mao and Endou were on the page.

"Just… put me down for Endou-kun." Iwamoto spoke the first name she saw, and Ren turned away, satisfied.

"Mickelle-san, how about you?"

"I'm not sure yet – but I swear, nobody put down my brother!" Mickelle flared up, looking around the group.

"Hey, Mickelle-san, it's fine." Shimizu smiled kindly, "Your brother's only twelve, and we're better than that." Mickelle calmed down at Shimizu's reassuring words. As that exchange came to a close, something caught Iwamoto's eyes. She turned, peering over Sekine's head to see what just disturbed the forest. Nothing was there at first. However, after a few seconds, Iwamoto saw the unmistakable colour of white.

Standing, Iwamoto slowly headed over. She didn't care if the other girls saw. She was more concerned with the white. It looked like the hair that Sato, Shinoa and Kuro carried; none of the girls had white hair. Iwamoto would fancy not being spied on.

Like a wolf on the prowl, Iwamoto froze, looking for another sign of the intruder. After a few seconds, something to her left shook the branches, and Iwamoto pounced. Her hand secured around a small wrist, and she pulled her captive towards her. A small, Mexican boy looked up at her.

"What are you doing here, Shinoa-kun?" Iwamoto exclaimed. She was pretty certain he had been with the boys.

"I got curious!" Shinoa snapped back, pulling his wrist away.

"Well, I suppose you're here now." Iwamoto sighed. Shinoa rolled his eyes.

"Hey, Iwamoto-san, who are you talking to?" Shachimato called from her seating place, attracting the other girl's attention as well.

"Shinoa-kun." Iwamoto shrugged.

"What's he doing here?" Shachimato jumped up, pushing her dark blue ponytail over her shoulder.

"I was just curious!" Shinoa glared at Shachimato, who approached regardless. Iwamoto backed away, her back hitting a tree.

"Hm… Well, whilst you're here. I think we could use you." Shachimato smirked, and Shinoa backed away, fearful.

"What do you mean?" Shinoa asked, trying to keep up his brave front.

"You see…" Shachimato leant forwards before whispering in Shinoa's ear. Iwamoto strained to try and hear the exchange, but they were being too quiet.

"That doesn't seem too bad…" Shinoa quietly replied.

"See? Now go!" Shachimato towered over Shinoa, and after a moment, Shinoa sprinted back towards the boys. Shachimato turned, victorious.

"What did you make him do…?" Iwamoto asked who Shachimato, who only grinned.

"You'll see. Now come on girls, it's time we go back inside!" Shachimato exclaimed, swooping down to pick up the rating sheet. Iwamoto had no idea what Shachimato had done, but she followed regardless.

* * *

Mao was beginning to wish he had bowed out of rating the girls. Now, all the boys were just talking about the sheet. Mao didn't feel right, having done it. Perhaps, if he had bowed out like Shinoa and Shaun had, he would feel better. That would only leave ten votes, yes. However, his consciousness would be clearer.

"I think it's very shallow if you ask me." Mao's attention was drawn to Kumino's conversation with Ebisawa.

"Definitely." Ebisawa nodded, "It's the personality that matters."

"Shame most of us don't see it that way, right?" Kumino responded, and Ebisawa agreed.

"Hey, Shinoa-kun, there you are!" Mao looked over hearing Endou. The outgoing boy was waving at Shinoa, who was running back towards the group.

"Where did you go?" Endou continued. Shinoa, however, didn't reply as he roughly pushed past. Ignoring Endou's cry, the whitehead grabbed the sheet with the boy's ratings.

"Hey, put that down!" Inoue yelled, getting to his feet. Mao's eyes widened as Shinoa easily ducked under Inoue's grab and darted in the direction of the schoolhouse.

"That boy has guts…" Mao marvelled, getting up.

"He sure does." Ebisawa replied, and Mao jumped slightly. He hadn't realised that Ebisawa heard him.

"May as well see where he's going." Mao shrugged. Ebisawa silently nodded in agreement, and the duo joined Kumino as the boys started flocking to the classroom.

"I didn't take Shinoa-kun to be the underhand, sneaky type." Kumino pointed out.

"He seems like more the upfront, violent type to me." Mao agreed. It did seem out of character for Shinoa to do something like this, especially on his own will.

"Something's up." Kumino observed, "I saw the way he kept looking back at the girls as they went into the classroom. Perhaps they had something to do with it?"

"Nice observing." Mao complimented, and Kumino smiled, looking down. Mao entered through the already open classroom door, rubbing his arms. It was colder in here than outside, somehow.

"Looks like they're in the classroom." Kumino noted.

"Let's go in then." Ebisawa shrugged, his fingers batting around one of his plaits. Mao blinked once before heading around the corner and straight into the classroom.

The girls were crowded around the board, and Mao spotted Shinoa in the middle of their group easily. Two pieces of paper were tacked to the board, and several of the girls kept giggling.

Mao's blood ran cold.

He knew what had happened.

Rushing forward, Mao looked over all the girls heads – at 175cm, he was taller than all of them, apart from Mickelle – and read both of the sheets. It was the boys rating sheet, and the girls had also done one. Now, they were comparing who was rated. Mao rolled his eyes – how juvenile. He shook his head, making his brown hair even messier. He figured he may as well read it, since it wasn't going to come down anytime soon. He started with the boys;

SHIMIZU MIHO - 4 - "Amazing hair and eyes, has a soft personality under that exterior!"  
ARISATO CHINATSU - 2 - "Very organised, and boobs :D"  
HIKARU KAZUKO - 2 – "Kind, friendly ikeman"  
IWAMOTO REINA – 1 – "Friendly and interesting, cute smile."  
REN KOUGYOKU - 1 - "Cute hair, really unique!"  
ARISA SHION - 1 - "Nice personality and pretty hair."  
BOWED OUT – 2  
ABSENT – 2

Mao silently thanked Endou for erasing all of the names of who voted for who. Mao really didn't want anyone to know where his vote went.

"Under that exterior? What does that mean?" Shimizu exclaimed, annoyed.

"Who wanted to note down my boobs?" Arisato growled. It was true that Arisato had large boobs – Mao didn't rank people purely on their looks though. His attention turned to the girls ranking of the boys. He really hoped his name wasn't on here.

KISOKA RYU – 4 – "Beyond amazing looks, if only his personality was nicer."  
MAO KATSUO – 3 – "Good-looking and helpful ikeman."  
SATO ARI – 2 – "Interesting eyes, looks creepily hot."  
ENDOU SHOUTA – 2- "Cute personality, just a bit annoying"  
EBISAWA KAZUSHIGE – 1 – "Small and nice in his own way – braids are unique"  
OMORI TAKAYUKI – 1 – "Mysterious"  
BOWED OUT – 1  
ABSENT – 1

He was second? It was nice to know that he wasn't first, but Mao would have preferred not being on there at all. That didn't matter now though. He was just going to have to roll with it.

"Hey, Kisoka-kun, you have your choice of girls, pretty much." Kuro jabbed Kisoka in the ribs, who growled. When did Kuro get here? Mao didn't see him come in.

"Yeah, well…" Kisoka trailed off before looking down.

"Hey, Shimizu-san, wasn't it you who wanted the two who got the top ranking to go out?" Toujo looked at Shimizu who squirmed.

"I didn't mean it! I swear!"

"Don't try to back out of it, you dropped this on yourself!" Toujo laughed. Shimizu bit her lip.

"So, Kisoka-kun…" Ren looked over from Toujo to Kisoka, who immediately tensed.

"Don't you even think about it." He growled stubbornly.

"Hey, stop being a party killer." Chiyo inputted, much to Mao's surprise – he didn't expect the stuck-up rich girl to like this, "I mean, if he won't do it, then just go from the second."

Second? That was Mao.

 _Crap._

"I suppose that will do – Mao-kun?" Ren turned to Mao. He froze. He didn't want to do this but he didn't want to let them down. Making his classmates sad was the last thing the ikeman wanted to do.

"Sure…?" Mao hesitantly said. Ren's face broke out into a big grin. Mao was aware that the rest of the class had now filed into the room and were watching the scene with curiosity. Mao felt as if the roof had just caved and coated him with cold water. _What did I get myself into this time?_

"Go on, then, ask her!" Ren laughed as Shimizu slowly turned in her chair to face Mao. He gulped nervously.

"Shimizu-san?" He muttered. Shimizu tilted her head, a knowing smile playing on her lips.

"Yes, Mao-kun?"

"Will… Will you go out with me?" Mao looked away straight away, his brow covered in a chilly sweat. The class seemed to take a simultaneous breath.

"Mao-kun… let me make you a deal." Shimizu smiled before taking something off of her desk. It was a pencil – yellow and brand new, the pink rubber still fully intact. Several pieces of coloured tape were wrapped around it. Mao raised his eyebrow.

"You see this pencil?" Shimizu held it up, then continued without a pause, "If, and only if, you manage to keep this pencil through the whole year, and not lose it, we can go out then. If you lose it, I'm afraid it's a no."  
Shimizu smiled sweetly as she handled the pencil to him. Mao looked at it, ignoring the excited whispers from the rest of the class.

"Challenge accepted." Mao smiled. Shimizu winked before turning back to the rankings on the board.

* * *

"Alright Class, that's it for today. Make sure you do the homework I set you – it shouldn't take long." Nagisa smiled, looking over the attentive class. The scene was washed over in the glow of sunset as the students started packing up for home. Mao gaze drifted to his schoolbag as he pulled it up from under his seats. Carefully placing his books into his bag, Mao found himself staring at the back of Shimizu's head. She was happily chatting to Kumino and Ren, her hair flowing freely over her shoulders. Mao didn't know if he would keep the pencil – he'd certainly try to. He still didn't know if he accepted her dare though, like he said.

"Mao-kun!" Mao looked up. Endou was waving at him, motioning for him to come over. Shrugging, Mao quickly zipped his bag up and headed over. The floorboards involuntarily creaked under his feet.

"Hey, Endou-kun." Mao smiled at Endou, who grinned in response.

"Making good on that deal I assume?"

"Why is that the first thing everyone brings up?" Mao groaned, and Endou chuckled.

"Well, you have to admit, it isn't the first thing everyone would think of doing." Arisa looked over from shoving her books into her bag, pushing her scarlet ponytail behind her shoulder. Mao glanced at Shinoa, who was looking by the door, and followed his gaze. Iwamoto was heading out, deep in conversation with Ren and Shimizu. The three popular girls, of course.

"Quite inventive though." Mao complimented, and Shinoa turned to him, nodding.

"You have quite the challenge ahead of you." Mao turned as Hikari stopped before him smiling.

"I guess so, hm?" Mao laughed.

"Are you sure someone like Shimizu is someone who is suited for you, though?" Hikari continued.

"Not at all." Mao replied, "I have to live up to my promise though."

"I think it's wrong." Shinoa butted in, "She shouldn't make you do this."

"Too late now." Mao shrugged it off.

"Anyways, Mao-kun…" Hikari quietly tapped the ikeman's shoulder. He turned, his bronze eyes wide.

"I kinda need you to move." Hikari tilted her head, "Please?" Only then did Mao realise he was blocking the aisle. With a hurried apology, he slipped into Iwamoto's desk space and allowed Hikari to pass.

"I need to hurry home as well." Endou nodded, before he pushed past Mao, "Anyone coming with me?"

"I'll go, I don't want to be late." Shinoa nodded, darting past Arisa who was almost knocked off her feet.

"Watch where you're going!" She snapped, "You could get told off for hurting someone."

"That didn't hurt you!" Shinoa smirked at her before heading to the door, with Endou in hot pursuit. Arisa sighed, placing her bag on her shoulder.

"Want to go down with me?" Mao asked, standing straighter. He was conscious that the crowd of people in the class was dwindling. Arisa just shrugged.

"I don't have anyone to walk with, so feel free." Arisa nimbly slid out from her desk, and Mao quietly followed. He kept up with the poet, keeping his eyes fixed on her long, bright hair.

"Hey, you two?" Mao turned to see Inoue watching them.

"Hey, Inoue-kun." Mao smiled at the usually dull boy.

"Mind if I go with you?" Inoue asked. Arisa nodded, and Inoue smiled, heading over. The three headed out of the building after bidding farewell to Nagisa. Mao was almost doubtful of Nagisa'a authority. He didn't seem old enough to control the class or even to teach it. Despite that, there was something about him which made Mao wary. He didn't want to challenge the bluenette at all. The ikeman sighed. He didn't like silence. It was time he talked.

"So how is E class for you three?" Mao queried, looking over at the other two.

"I'm finding it alright." Arisa nodded, "I like the pace, and that we can go our own. I noticed that Nagisa-sensei paid attention to us as well – he paired Omori-kun and I up for the partner exercise in Japanese today, and later said he noticed our strength in the subject."

"Nagisa-sensei is certainly observant, you can say that much," Inoue agreed, "He got Iwamoto-san to help me in Social Studies today. He must have known it was my weakest subject."

"He has files, doesn't he?" Mao replied. Before Inoue could reply to him, the sound of laughter behind them made him turn. Coming up behind them was a crowd of four people – Ren, Mickelle, Shaun and… It took Mao several seconds to recognise Ebisawa. Mao did a double take – he could have sworn Ren left before him, and with Shimizu and Iwamoto nonetheless.

"Wait up!" Ren waved at them. Inoue, Arisa and Mao all stopped to let the small gathering catch up.

"I thought you went ahead of me, Ren-san?" Mao said first of all.

"I ditched the other two, they were boring me." Ren shrugged.

"I can't see how we're any different, honestly." Mickelle laughed, and Shaun jabbed her in the ribs.

"Don't say that!" He protested in his squeaky voice.

"He has a point, that doesn't do anything for self-esteem." Ebisawa noted, and Mickelle rolled her eyes.

"That self-esteem stuff is just a load of trash." She stated, before widening her eyes, "Um… I didn't mean that. I swear."

"Yeah, you do this a lot around people." Shaun noted.

"I would've thought you as talkative." Inoue noted. Mickelle looked down.

"Most people think that, I assume?" Arisa asked. Shaun nodded.

"Well enough of that, how is everyone?" Ren said with a grin. Mao rolled his eyes. Of course, of all the people to ask, it would be Ren.

"I'm alright, yeah." Mao nodded.

"Where's everyone heading today?" Ebisawa inquired, "Like, which way are your homes?"

"Oh, I'm going straight to my parent's shop." Inoue shrugged, "I'll do my homework there."

"Yeah, I have to go to work." Mao commented. He knew he wasn't allowed – that's why he was in E class in the first place. He still had to go, however. He desperately needed the money.

"Isn't that against school rules?" Arisa turned to him, her eyes stern. Mao was about to retort when Shaun stepped in.

"He can still go, if he needs it. Besides, who on the schoolboard even notices us 3-E kids?" The 12 year-old answered. Arisa hesitated before looking away. Mao couldn't help but smile a little.

"This is our stop, anyways." Shaun paused as they got to the bottom of the mountain, "We're nearby, and so we'll be walking." Mickelle nodded, mute. Mao couldn't help but feel that was a lot different to earlier.

"Sure thing, Shaun-kun. I've got the train." Ren replied.

"Same here." Arisa chimed, and Ebisawa also nodded.

"I'll go with you lot, although I get a different train." Inoue spoke up.

"The shop I work at is just a few streets here, so I'll see all of you tomorrow I guess." Mao smiled at the others.

"Don't stay up too late!" Ren laughed, waving. Mao waved back before turning, heading up the bustling road running parallel to the main campus. By this time, the other students would have gone home. Mao's eyes drifted to the sunset. He found it comforting and peaceful. Maybe it was harder walking home, yes. However, just seeing the serene sun made Mao's spirits lift.

Ahead of him, Shaun and a now more relaxed Mickelle turned left, as Mao veered right. He was now right by campus. At the sight, his mind drifted back to 2-B. He really liked that class. It was perfectly suited for him, and the people were nice. Of course, many came to E-class with him. Hikari had always been close to him, so he was happy she did. Omori was also a good gain, as he was organised. He didn't really know any of the others, though – barring Shimizu, of course. Mao's closest friend had probably been Takahashi. She was still there now. He hadn't talked to her that much, but he considered her a friend, no matter how daydreamy she was. Apparently, Iwamoto was her cousin. Thinking a bit more, Mao's attention turned to Sasai – or Kaguya as she was known. She was the new class B rep. He remembered Omori saying something about how the role was perfect for her. Mao had to agree. She may be boring, but she was very formal and reliable.

"Hey, you, E class." Mao stopped in his tracks, before turning to the side.

Toranpu Donarudo.

He was the class A bully. Everyone knew he was very racist, and arrogant. Probably came from being rich. Mao gulped, looking up. Mao was one of the tallest in E class. Yet, Toranpu dwarfed him. At 190cm, he was a beast, taller than practically everyone. Not only that, but he also weighed a colossal 107kg, purely muscle. Mao's 57kg and thin figure would be no match.

"Toranpu-san… How nice to see you." Mao weakly smiled, backing away slightly.

"I wish I could say the same, E class _scum._ " He spat. Mao flinched, the palm of his hands getting sweaty. Toranpu leant over, his blonde hair falling in front of his face.

"Toranpu-san, you really don't need to bother anymore…" Mao quietly answered, feeling cold sweat run down his brow.

"Do I? I mean, I'm pretty sure you're still working, right?" He antagonised. Mao nodded meekly.

"That's a slight problem." Toranpu noted, "I think I should report this and get another troublesome student out of my hair. After all, the first time you were caught, you were sent straight to class E. What happens now?"

"You don't tell anyone, eh, Mr _President?"_ Mao turned at the new voice; Omori. He was walking over, with Sato tagging along. Mao blinked at the other two boys – the three tallest boys in the class were here. They'd be the three tallest if it wasn't for Mickelle. Despite that, Toranpu still towered over all three of them.

"Omori-kun." Toranpu narrowed his eyes, "I thought I'd heard the last from you." His eyes flicked over Sato but didn't stop to comment.

"Well you thought wrong, didn't you?" Omori smiled sarcastically, "Now tell me what you are doing with Mao-kun here, will you?"

"I'm doing nothing, it's what he doesn't do." Toranpu snapped.

"You're not making any sense, you're aware of that, right?" Omori laughed, "Besides, aren't you being a hypocrite right now?"

"A hypocrite?" Toranpu growled.

"Yes, a hypocrite. I mean, everyone knows you hate alley dwellers and delinquents, yet here you are. Isn't your department more the blackmailing department? You know, with the high up officials?" Mao looked towards the duo. Omori's eyes sparkled with a lust that Mao didn't think was possible, and Sato had a sadistic grin upon his face. They both made Mao shiver. It was as if they were a dangerous duo.

 _How did Omori-kun become class representative again?_

"So, maybe you should run along and play with your important official friends, eh?" Omori grinned.

"I'll have you know I can have you hung, drawn and quartered if you keep speaking to me like that!" Toranpu retorted, shifting around awkwardly.

"Oh, you can do that. I'll show you up one day." Omori winked before grabbing Mao's wrist. His large eyes blinked in surprise.

"How about we go." Sato suggested, looking at the stunned Toranpu.

"Good idea…" Mao muttered, before Omori pulled him away. The representative flashed a toothy grin at Toranpu before stalking off.

"Well, Omori-kun, he's going to be out for your blood." Sato commented.

"And he wasn't already?" Omori shrugged, letting go of Mao, "Where you off to, ikeman?"

"Oh, I have work." Mao looked down, "Thanks for saving my skin back there."

"No problem. Sato-kun, should we head off to Mao's workplace and do our homework there?" Sato shrugged.

"Um, I'm not sure – "

"Where do you work?"

"A café."

"Great, we can do our stuff there. I'll pay." Omori nodded.

"I certainly didn't expect this side of you." Mao replied.

"No one ever does. Now c'mon, we don't want to make Mao-kun late, do we?"


	6. Start Time! Part 2 AUTHOR NOTE

**My PC decided to be an ASS AGAIN and not let me upload the AN to the same chapter. FFFF. I'll have to do it here.**

 **Word count: 7,016 words**

 **Sorry for late update, I've had writers block and exams. The editing and description is crappy, ik.**

 **I added a poll and a progress meter on my profile so if I'm silent for a while go and check that out.**

 **Sorry once again, Raven.**

 **Disclaimer: I only own Omori, Sekine and the plot.**

 **These are still missing: (Aspiration means what they want to be when they are older):**

 **Cloriko Gastumatsee: Aspirations, Previous Club**

 **Kuro: Clothing, Aspiration, Previous Club**

 **Ari Sato: Clothing**

 **Tatsukawa Ken: Aspiration, Previous Club**

 **Kazuko Hikari: Clothing, Previous Club**

 **Yuri Yoshitoki: Aspiration**

 **Megumi Chiyo: Aspiration, Previous Club**

 **Katsuo Mao: Clothing, Previous Club**

 **Hikaru Shachimato: Aspirations, Previous Club**

 _Review Replies:_

 _E.S Creator:_ Thanks for the extra info dude! I'll try to add as much as possible. It's kinda hared communicating with guests though.

 _Everyone else:_ Thank you so much for the feedback, and I know the description lacked this chapter as well, I'll try to fix it as soon as I get over writers block!


	7. Addition Time!

**I'll write the authors note now in case the chapter doesn't edit.**

 **I'm SOSOSO Sorry for the silence! Life and writers block jsut got the better of me! I was planning to release Element 4 first but as time dragged on I realised I should just get on with one of them.**

 **The first character-specific chapter is up next! I had a suggestion to make each in Rinmaru and put that as the front cover, which I will do.  
NOTE: If there is a character you want to know more about, say in a review! I will be checking these and the chapter after the first one will be the one who gets the most asks, unless it's a planned one.**

 **Again I'm so sorry and I'll try to not let this happen again!**

 **\- Rave**

 **PS: THIS CHAPTER IS UNEDITED DUE TO TIME SO I AM SORRY IF YOUR CHARACTER ISN'T MENTIONED!**

* * *

The first of the three students arrived on the first Thursday of the school year.

Yukio Joyce had arrived far before anyone else. He hadn't slept the previous night – that was probably the fault of the jetlag. He was already seated at his desk, where Nagisa had pointed to when he arrived. The small teacher was already there as well. Nagisa was a full 10cm shorter than Joyce; a fact which the American found humour in. In fact, there were very few similarities between the duo. Joyce's straight, raven hair was extremely long- almost to his waist. It was extremely unusual to see hair of this length, for a male. He had yet to meet a male with hair this long. His eyes were a sharp violet colour.

Joyce looked up as the classroom door was pushed back. Expecting to see Nagisa, Joyce was startled to see an extremely small individual. They were a lot smaller than Nagisa, at least a foot smaller. In fact, Joyce first wondered if they happened across the wrong place. However, they were definitely struggling along with a Kunigigaoka bag, and froze when they say Joyce.

"Can I help you?" His high voice broke the silence of the classroom,

"Are you… are you 3-E?" Joyce tentatively asked.

"I am, but most think I'm too young. Are you one of the missing students?" The student queried. He pushed his braid over his small shoulder, placing his bag by the wall, in the third row.

"Missing – oh, I only joined today." Joyce looked down, nervous.

"So… Yoshitoki-kun or Joyce-kun?" The boy wondered over to Joyce.

"Huh – oh, Joyce." Joyce nodded.

"Hm, I can tell. Your accent." The boy noted, "I'm Shinoa-kun, Echo Shinoa."

"Nice to meet you." Joyce smiled.

"So… why is your hair so long?" Shinoa asked before his unusually-coloured eyes widened slightly, "I'm sorry for intruding – I figured I should know my class more."

"No, that's wise, I guess." Joyce replied, grinning, "I mean, I doubt I would ask anyone otherwise. My hair just grows very fast, and I prefer long hair. Although, I may have it cut soon, and donate it."

"Donating it is a nice cause." Shinoa complimented, before heading around behind the American, "Can I undo it?" Joyce hesitated before sighing. He may as well let Shinoa at it.

"Sure." Joyce responded. With a smile, Shinoa sat on the desk behind Joyce and leant forwards, catching his fingers under Joyce's hairband, sliding it out. His sky-blue eye twitched, seeing all the hair spill out, before starting to fiddle with it. Joyce stiffened. His mother always used to comb her hands through his hands like this. Of course, that was before… well, the incident.

"Shinoa-kun! Oh, and… company?" Shinoa's hands seized, and Joyce's eyes flickered to the doors. A girl was standing there, her dark blue hair pulled into a messy ponytail.

"Morning, Shachimato-san." Shinoa waved, and Shachimato walked over.

"Is this the American student then?" She questioned.

"Yeah, I am." Joyce nodded, "Yukio Joyce."

"Shachimato Hikaru." Shachimato smiled at him, before tilting her head, "Now, don't take offence at this, but I thought you would be placed down here because you couldn't speak Japanese, like Ken-kun – he's from Singapore, and can only speak Malay and English. You speak it perfectly though. So… why?"

"I just… I don't know." Joyce sighed, "I was relentless back in California, I was never afraid to whack someone. I guess they put me here in case I hurt someone."

"Well then." Shachimato smirked, "We're proud to have you anyways! Now, about your hair…"

"Long, isn't it?" Shinoa butted in, "And it's incredibly soft."

"Wow, how? My hair's like straw that a horse vomited up." Shachimato laughed, and Joyce managed to crack a smile. The girl's onyx eyes met Joyce's violet ones.

"You'll like our class, I reckon. Just make sure you're not on the wrong end of one of my or Sato-kun's pranks." Shachimato informed him, "Also, don't bully anyone, or Omori-kun will have your head. Shimizu-san will spread rumours everywhere if you get on her bad side. Don't mess with Niijima-kun in order to avoid Arisato-san's wrath, and don't say anything to Chiyo-san cause her brat –"

"What about me?" Joyce sighed with relief as Shachimato's rant was cut off by two more people, now standing at the door. There was a male taller than him, with messy white hair and thin red eyes. Beside him, also with red eyes but instead with green hair styled into a high ponytail was a girl, one who was just as tall as Joyce, as well as large breasts.

"Morning guys!" Shachimato smiled, tilting her head to the right.

"Who's this?" The girl glanced dismissively at Joyce. Prickles travelled up his spine. Something told him this girl thought highly of herself.

"This is Joyce-kun, the American student." Shachimato nodded at them. Joyce decided, no matter how shy he may be, he might as well be friendly. He smiled.

"How do you do?" He asked.

"Pretty good, thanks." The white-haired boy smiled back at him. The girl just looked away.

"Joyce-kun, this is Sato-kun and Chiyo-san." Shachimato introduced them.

"You mean, the ones you just badmouthed?" Shinoa pointed out from his seat. Chiyo-san's head snapped back towards them.

"Well, I didn't badmouth Sato-kun at all." Shachimato shrugged, "Chiyo-san, on the other hand…"

"Excuse me?" Chiyo growled slightly, her eyes narrowing so there was more black mascara then eye visible. Joyce tensed, feeling a fight starting to heat up. However, before Shachimato could reply with a witty comment, Nagisa strode in, stopping when he saw five of his students at odds.

"So then, what's going on here?" Nagisa placed his rolebook on his desk, turning to the five.

"Just introducing Joyce-kun to the class here." Shachimato laughed. Chiyo glared.

"You were telling bad stuff about me!" The rich princess retorted.

"No, I was telling Joyce-kun of your personality. There's a difference." Shachimato carelessly blinked.

"Well, whatever it is, don't melt into fighting, please." Nagisa smiled.

"Yeah right. If she says anything bad again, I'll kill her." Chiyo muttered. Joyce's eyes widened at the shift in Nagisa's face. He bowed his head slightly, darkening his eyes. Joyce opened his mouth to release a warning into the tense atmosphere when Chiyo gasped. Nagisa had moved – almost _invisibly_ – towards Chiyo, and was now standing right behind her.

"Kill, hm?" The teacher's voice had dropped. Joyce shivered. The temperature seemed to have dropped many degrees, and the air became suffocating. The other students seemed to sense it as well; Shachimato crossed her arms, running her hands over them. Shinoa gripped the desk desperately with both hands, and Chiyo backed away, with Sato watching.

"Do you even know the meaning of that word?" Nagisa muttered. Chiyo gulped, afraid to say anything.

"I thought not." Nagisa raised his eyebrows after several seconds of tentative silence, before stepping back.

"Joyce-kun, if you stay with me, I'll introduce you to the class in a minute." Nagisa turned to the American, who gulped, trying to ignore the sweat on his brow.

"Sure, sensei." Joyce got up from his desk, glancing at the other four before heading over to the teacher that he was now a little afraid of.

ACACACAC

"So I have to show you around, huh?" It was lunchtime now, and Joyce was standing near the doors of the old building, shivering under the relentless spring sun. Shachimato was standing beside him, talking to him.

"I guess so." Joyce nodded, looking over at the bluenette. Shachimato smiled at him before turning back to the field.

"So anyways, who do you know right now?" She asked, her hand idly fiddling with the waistband of her skirt.

"Well, everyone from the morning." Joyce nodded, his eyes drifted over to the right, "Fujioka-san and Ren-san as well." Shachimato nodded. Joyce knew that would make sense to her, as the two girls sat either side of the American.

"Okay, so…" Shachimato glanced around before pointing to a bookworm, "That girl with the scarlet hair is Arisa-san – she's always buried in books and the like. The boy sitting in the tree just beyond her is Kuro-kun. He's very mysterious. He won't even let anyone know his surname."

"Why's that?" Joyce enquired.

"Nobody knows." Shachimato replied with a careless shrug, "I guess everyone has their secrets."

"Everyone? Does that include you?" Joyce tilted his head, glancing at Shachimato. The daredevil gulped, and the air filled with a rocky silence. Joyce knew he had crossed an imaginary line, and his eyes widened.

"Sorry… I'll just let you talk." Joyce fell quiet. Shachimato drew a prolonged breath through her nose before nodding.

"Alright. Right in front of you, on the grass are those four. You know Ren-san, the pink haired girl. The three boys with her are Ebisawa-kun –the blonde one with plaits – and next to him is Shinoa-kun – the tiny white haired boy – and finally, Inoue-kun, the one with bright orange hair. He loves flowers. A little to the right of them are Niijima-kun, Arisato-san and Omori-kun. You know Arisato-san and Omori-kun as the class representatives, so it's likely they're planning something. Niijima-kun, of course, always stays with Arisato-san."

"Who's that?" Joyce nodded over to three students sitting alone, in the shade of the trees.

"Oh, they're the introverts. Sekine-san is the girl with the fringe, Sato-kun is the tall one with white hair, and Ken-kun is the other. It's strange to see him without Fujioka-san, she normally translates for him. I guess he's trying to get back on his feet."

Joyce nodded, noticing Shinoa get up from his group and start to skip over. He was the one who played with Joyce's hair this morning, right? Joyce smiled at the tiny boy as Shinoa stopped by them.

"Hi Shachimato-san, Joyce-kun!" He smiled, stopping by them.

"Hey, Shinoa-kun." Shachimato nodded. Joyce opened his mouth to reply when something called over, and all three students looked. Gastumatsee and Zamura – he only remembered their names looking at them – were calling the bluenette over.

"I'll have to see them – have fun with Shinoa-kun!" Shachimato laughed before skipping off.

"Wait, Shac –" Joyce sighed as Shachimato left them. Joyce looked over at Shinoa.

"So…" Joyce looked down. Shinoa blinked.

"Would you really hurt someone?" Shinoa asked, eyes wide. Joyce, a little taken aback, hesitated before remembering this morning, and replying;

"Only if they were mean to me."

"You'll have a field day with the main school then – and the big 5 in particular!" Shinoa marvelled.

"Big 5?"

"Yeah – they're the best students in the school. The leader is the chairman's son. They're all pretty mean, although I heard that the girls can be more merciful." Shinoa noted.

"Mean in what way?" Joyce responded.

"They encourage the school to look down on us. They think their high grades make them amazing. Honestly, they can just be really selfish. Carmelano-san is a different story – Mickelle-san said she and Carmelano-san were friends, and Carmelano-san is apparently really sweet! She's just in the top 5 due to her intelligence, although I bet Gastumatsee-san and Niijima-kun can prove her wrong! Other than that, they're all horrible; Tokisaka-san always thinks of ways to spite us, Park-kun has hit on at least one girl here – Ren-san told us that much – and Kaminari-kun is such a devout believer of Asano-kun that he will do anything."

"They sound horrible." Joyce replied. Honestly, he was horrified. People were that mean to this class? He was glad he wasn't placed there. Also, he was tempted to do the thing his superiors had warned him about… and placed him there for.

"Well what can we do? We're E-class – we've already sunk in the sink or swim society." Shinoa answered. Joyce shivered at the words.

"Prove them wrong!" Joyce said, "even if it breaks rules!"

"We can't… we can't do that!" Shinoa looked up at him, eyes widened. Looking down at him, Joyce had to admit that it made him seem very cute.

"You have to." Joyce added, "We have to!"

Shinoa blinked once. Honestly, that kitten was too cute. Joyce grinned, before sweeping the light boy off his feet. Shinoa squealed trying to get away, causing many to look over.

"Um… Shinoa-kun?" Hikari-san, looking over, started to walk over with Mao-kun and Zamura-san at her heels. There was no need though. As Joyce looked down at Shinoa, the childs eyes were filled with joy. There was so much difference to just a few minutes ago.

No matter who threatened this class, Joyce knew he would fit in here.

* * *

The second student arrived on the second Wednesday.

Kuro had been walking to class on his own, his head bowed to protect his violet eyes from the wind. His white hair was constantly flying because of this. In fact, he was looking at the ground so much that his watery eyes almost missed the figure standing by the school, early like he was. Her scarlet hair billowed out behind her. Kuro thought it was Arisa at first, but the hair was thicker, and too long. Kuro stepped closer, curious as to who the new arrival was. Wasn't there another girl who was supposed to join? The Mexican?

The girl turned around to look at the light-haired male. A pair of catlike, yellow eyes observed him. Kuro shivered at their thin but piercing gaze.

"Are you a member of class 3-E?" The girl asked. Her voice was slightly gravelly, as if it was a cat's purr.

"I am." Kuro nodded, looking at her. The girl walked a few steps down the slope until she was facing Kuro. She was exactly his height of 167cm, staring into his purple eyes. However, her build was muscled and her gait heavy, a contrast to the lithe figure of Kuro.

"My name is Rosalinda Ivette – I'm sure my reputation has gotten around, yes?" The girl tilted her head. Uncomfortable, Kuro stepped back nodding.

"Well that's good. I'll fit in with the delinquents here." Ivette nodded, turning back to the building. Her lips spread into a fanged smile which made Kuro shiver. The boy stayed silent as he watched the sassy girl walk over to the building, quietly walking inside. Kuro could sense that there would be some danger surrounding her. She didn't seem the type that got along with people easily. To add to that, if Kuro's memory served him correctly, she sat in front of Shachimato. Those two troublemakers were dangerous.

This was going to be chaos.

ACACACAC

Class had just broken up for lunch, and Kuro was last out. He hadn't meant to be. He just wasn't in any particular rush, which was all. He stopped on the stairs at the foot of the door, looking around. It was interesting to see which groups of people the students had automatically flocked to, even though it had been less than two weeks so there was no time to form close attachments yet.

There was the typical popular group of course, sitting under the trees to the right of the schoolhouse. Ren of course was there, giggling to Endou. Toujo sat a little to the side of the group, conversing with Mickelle and Shaun – though mostly Shaun. Near the middle of the group was Inoue, grinning, and Iwamoto was beside him.

Opposite the popular group on the left side was the other large group. Most the people in this group were popular or liked, but were just quieter than the other group. At this moment, Hikari, Mao and Ebisawa were cracking up with laughter at something Shimizu had said, apparently. Fujioka and Kumino were sitting beside them deep in conversation.

A gleeful yell caught Kuro's attention, as he looked over to the left side of the school. From round the side came Joyce, running and laughing. Shinoa was on his back, arms wrapped around his neck. Both of them were giggling, watching as Ken ran after them, stunned. Shinoa had done well in bringing Joyce out of his shell; even if it was only to the small boy.

Looking away, Kuro focused on the rest. Most of the others were alone or in small groups. Niijima and Arisato were sat together, signing. Gastumatsee was also with Omori, writing on some paper. Chiyo and Zamura were sat separately, eating. Kuro caught a final movement out of the corner of his eye. Was someone else there? With a start, Kuro realised that several of his classmates were unaccounted for – Arisa, Sekine, Kisoka and Sato. The introverts. Was there a reason for that?

Deciding he had nothing better to do, Kuro stuck his hands in the pockets of his trousers, heading towards where he saw the strange movement. He looked up, glancing at the green leaves on the trees. How long had they been standing? He had no idea. They'd probably been there a lot longer than he had, surely. Certainly longer than any of their 14 year old selves (15 in the case of Fujioka, who had had her birthday just yesterday). Perhaps older than Nagisa – no, definitely older than him. He was only in his early twenties, after all.

Kuro turned, peering around the corner. He wasn't surprised to find the remaining students crowded there. Arisa was sitting in a tree, leaning against the tree bark. Once again, her head was buried in a book. Sekine sat under the tree, poking at a bento box. She didn't seem to be taking much interest in eating. Sato was beside her, eyes closed. Kuro frowned noticing Kisoka's absence. On second thought, Ivette and Shachimato hadn't been accounted for. With a careless shrug, Kuro slid down the side of the class building with a yawn. He hadn't brought lunch, so he just shut his eyes and let the sun wash over him.

"How are you, Kuro-kun?"

Kuro opened his eyes looking over at Sekine. She was looking at Kuro now – her eye was focused and not moving from him.

"I'm alright, I suppose." Kuro shrugged, sweeping his white bangs away from his eyes.

"Suppose?" Sekine probed.

"Suppose. I'm not too keen on Ivette." Kuro noted.

"Well she's like me." Sato smiled slightly, joining in the conversation. Kuro couldn't tell if the student was happy or smirking.

"She's loud. You're not." Kuro hastily pointed out. Sato nodded in agreement.

"I'm not sure I like many of this class to be honest." Sekine inputted. Kuro looked over as Sato glanced at her.

"Why's that?" He queried.

"I'm not sure." Sekine shrugged, "I had a few bad experiences with a few of them, out of school."

"Who?" That was Arisa. She was now looking up, joining in the conversation with interest. Sekine bit her lip, unwilling to answer. A stony silence settled. After a few seconds, Kuro opened his mouth to try and coax Sekine when a squeal caught his attention. Getting back up, the sharp-eyed mathematician peered around the corner. The scene he observed stunned him.

The popular group had split up – Endou and Ren stood one side, clutching their sides with laughter. Closer to the other large group – who were all looking over now – stood Mickelle with her arm around Shaun's small frame, and Inoue, grinning from ear to ear. As for Toujo…

"LET ME GO IVETTE-SAN!" The green haired girl shrieked, writhing where she hung from the tree. A thick, brown rope was fastened tight around her ankle, and her thick green hair fell over her eyes.

"I'd rather not." A silky voice chuckled. Kuro quickly looked beside the tree. Between the flowing bangs of red hair glowed two feline, yellow eyes, framed by long lashes. The Mexican girl just pushed the hair from her face, her mouth curling into a grin, revealing two vampire teeth. Another laugh sang through the air as a familiar bluenette walked over to stand behind Ivette.

 _Well,_ Kuro thought, _at least I know where Ivette-san and Shachimato-san are now._

"WHY ME?" Toujo cried out, trying in vain to free her ankle.

"Well you were just _there."_ Ivette taunted.

"Someone help me down!" Toujo wailed. Her hair tie was slipping out, leaving her hair in a messy clump instead of the usual side ponytail. Ivette just chuckled, a hand going up to her loose French plait, twirling it.

"Ivette-san, I think this is enough now." Mickelle pointed out, "You'll cut the circulation to Toujo-san's ankle off."

"So what if I do?" Ivette shrugged. Shachimato widened her eyes at that. Kuro thought that this was really testing the hastily forged bonds of the class. Ivette was taking this too far – this could hurt Toujo. The introvert wasn't about to step in though. The attention was the last thing he wanted. He forced himself to keep his face straight.

"Ivette-san, we should take her down –" Shachimato began to say before Ivette giggled, shutting her up. Kuro was slightly worried at that – was Ivette entirely stable right now?

"Ivette-san, you'll hurt Toujo-san." Now Hikari had stepped in, walking forwards, "We don't need any injuries in this class."

"Hikari-san is right. Ivette-san, take her down please." Mao joined in, stepping up besides his former ikemen.

"What will you do if I don't?" Ivette tilted her head. Kuro sighed, rolling his eyes before glancing at the others who had joined in. Arisa had closed her book and was watching from her perch. Sekine was beside Kuro, her face emotionless, and Sato besides her, a smirk playing on his face. Kisoka – where had _he_ come from? – was behind them, arms crossed. Kuro turned his attention back to the scene in front of him. Things seemed to be getting slowly more heated, with more students getting involved. Surely it wouldn't be long before Nagisa-sensei got involved.

"Ivette-san, stop! My ankle hurts!" Toujo cried, reaching out for the redhead who nimbly stepped away.

"Ivette-san, just call it a day, please." Now Inoue walked over to her. He stopped by the Mexican who just stared at him.

"Why?"

"Toujo's clearly in pain. Besides, is this really a good idea? I mean, there are plenty of other harmless pranks you could pull." Inoue shrugged. His fists were balled and he was clearly trying to stay under control. After hesitation, Ivette sighed before pulling on the rope and letting go. Toujo fell to the ground with a loud thump, prompting Mao, Hikari, Arisato and Niijima to run over to her.

"You lot need to loosen up a bit." Ivette laughed, flicking her hair behind her back.

"You _did_ go too far." That was Joyce. He had walked over, Shinoa now off his back. Ken was lingering a few feet away, uncertain whether to go closer.

"So what? It was only a bit of fun." Ivette shrugged, before grabbing Shachimato's wrist. The bluenette widened her eyes as Ivette pulled her away, and the duo walked back into the classroom. Joyce sighed, and Ken walked over, shaking his head.

"Ivette-san is going to be a lot of trouble, isn't she?" Joyce muttered to him. After hesitation, Ken nodded his head.

"Well… that happened." Sekine muttered. Her arms were now crossed again, her fringe falling in front of the entirety of her face.

"If you ask me, we're going to have our work cut out." Arisa nodded, sitting up from her seat, "We're going to always have to be on the lookout for Ivette and her pranks. She could strike any of us, and in my opinion, she'll be more likely to go for the quieter ones."

"That's a truth." Sato added. He started heading back towards where they were originally sitting, with Kisoka this time. Sekine turned before looking over at Kuro.

"Kuro-kun?" She tilted her head. Kuro looked over at her, hesitating before sighing.

"I'm coming."

* * *

How long had they been walking for? Shaun didn't know. He and Mickelle had separated off from Ren, Mao and Arisa a little while ago and were now on their way home. Surely their house was nearby. The duo were walking down the pavement now. Cherry blossoms fell everywhere – these would be the last ones before summer stole them for good.

The boy started humming to himself, ignoring a few looks from passers-by. Of course he would get these looks. He wasn't 14 like all the others wearing these uniforms anyways. He was 12. He was struggling, if he was honest. Even though he had just joined and moved to the school, Shaun really was clever. He just thought he wasn't used to the Japanese education system yet. He _had_ been in Japan since he was 10 though.

"Otouto!" Mickelle's sharp cry brought Shaun back to reality as he veered away from the road which he had nearly stepped on.

"Sorry Oneesan." Shaun bit his lip looking down. Mickelle laughed quietly.

"It's fine! It's typical of you anyways." Mickelle rationalised, looking around. Sakura blossoms were covering her hair, and Shaun couldn't help but grin. They both stopped together, now standing outside their quaint townhouse. The sun was beginning to set now, since the siblings had stayed after school to help tidy the schoolhouse. Pulling her key out of her pocket, Mickelle headed to the door, unlocking it. Shaun stayed behind her. He took one last look at the picturesque street before following Mickelle inside.

"We're home!" He yelled, slipping past Mickelle and into the hallway. A gleeful cry made Shaun look up the stairs as a small girl came running down them. This was Aliyah, the six year old sister of Shaun. Her black hair was tied up in two bunches and a grin was spread all across her face, revealing the two holes where her teeth had fallen out already.

"Oniisan, Oneesan!" She laughed, jumping down the final stair and into Shauns arms. He laughed dropping his bag and pulling Aliyah into a hug.

"Imouto, how are you?" Shaun grinned. Aliyah laughed stepping back.

"Amazing!" She showed her hands – they were covered in paint, "We did painting today but I like finger-painting so I did that instead!" Shaun hesitated before looking down at his school uniform. It was covered in paint.

"Looks like you've been a bit painted there." Mickelle pointed out and Shaun rolled his eyes.

"I didn't notice." He muttered. Of course, there was no school tomorrow. Plently of time to wash the shirt and tie which were now filthy.

"Oh well!" Mickelle shrugged putting the key down, "Imouto, why are your hands still dirty anyways?"

"I carried on upstairs!" Aliyah grinned. Shaun's heart stopped. His mum was going to have a heart attack if Aliyah had done what he thought she had done.

"Oh boy." Mickelle laughed, grabbing her bag from where it had previously fallen, "This is going to be just great."

"Very helpful." Shaun shook his head before slowly walking upstairs, leaving his bag abandoned on the floor. He needed some new clothes. Shaun brushed a few stray strands of his black hair away from his face, pushing the door to his room open. His room was more of a library really, with many souvenirs from Dominica littered everywhere. His window was still open, the wind making the Dominican flag he had flap wildly with the wind. Shaun walked over to the window, closing it tight, narrowing his eyes as they filled with tears. There was a large sakura tree overlooking his back garden. Due to that, petals were littered all over his floor. Shaun sighed. Maybe next time he shouldn't leave the window open all day.

Shaun sat on his bed sighing before his phone went off. Rummaging in his pocket, Shaun brought out the smartphone, with its sharp white light flashing. He clicked on. There was a new chat opened on his messenger – 'Science Helpers'. Surely Shaun wasn't a science helper. He was rubbish at science! He clicked onto the chat, opening it. He immediately went to the participants – Arisato, Arisa, Niijima, Shimizu, Ren, Mao, Chiyo, Kumino, Iwamoto, Toujo and himself. A random assortment of people it seemed. He clicked back onto the chat to read the messages already sent.

 _Kumino  
_ What's this chat for, Iwamoto-san?

 _Iwamoto  
_ Just because I remember science today, and I remember how many people were bad. So I took all the ones bad at science and all the ones amazing to help.

 _Niijima  
_ Good idea.

 _Kumino  
_ Yah.

 _Toujo  
_ do we have to be here?

 _Iwamoto  
_ Nah

 _Niijima  
_ It would be spam.

 _Iwamoto  
_ It was just an idea I had to help.

 _Shimizu  
_ oh god that assignment we were set today

 _Kumino  
_ Oh no

 _Toujo  
_ gaaaaah

 _Iwamoto  
_ Yah I created this because of that.

Shaun clicked his phone off, tired of the chat before placing the phone upside down to avoid the light. His eyes wondered to the window, looking into the world beyond. The sunset painted the world a pleasant shade of orange; one that Shaun found himself falling slowly in love with. Sometimes the scenery just took the boy away, meaning he didn't really pay attention to the world around him. It reminded him of Dominica in a way. The light made it seem really hot outside, and even if it was only April, it was very nice.

Shaun glanced at the end of his bed before digging his soccer ball out of its place between the wall and the oak bookshelf. The children in this area were very nice, and they were always playing soccer in the trees at the end of the road. It was just a matter of whether they had called it a day yet.

After a moment of thought, Shaun decided against it. He had homework as it was, and the science would take a while anyways. He fell back, sighing as his head fell against his feathery pillow. He stared longingly at the ceiling, his mind drifting to his class. He had mixed opinions about all of them. Nagisa-sensei was very confusing. He looked too young to be a teacher, yet his words were beyond his years. Shaun always felt very scared when he was around him. It was as if the hairs on the back of his neck rising were warning him of a dark secret Nagisa was hiding.

Of course, Shaun got on with lots of the class. He was an adaptable person and even if he had to change himself around many different people, it meant that many people liked him. There were a few in the class which Shaun didn't take to. Kuro scared him a little. His gaze was intense, and the way his white hair glowed gave the classmate an eerie glow. He intimidated Shaun. The other quieter students weren't much better. Kisoka looked like he could smash peoples' skulls together, Chiyo was so catty it was hard to get her to like you, and Sekine snapped easily enough to make Shaun fearful to talk to her, in case he set her off. There would always be the daunting members of the class.

Apart from that, Shaun was quite comfortable in 3-E. The work was okay for him – even though he was young and struggling to keep up, others in the class were seemingly even worse than him. He just needed to improve on science a bit. Saying that, he had that homework to do.

* * *

Mickelle looked up from her sushi, glancing around at her quiet family. Shaun was quietly eating a roll, Aliyah was singing to herself and her parents were quietly conversing about a mundane news event from earlier that day which Mickelle didn't care for at all. The tall girl just poked at her dinner. She didn't have much of an appetite; she wasn't certain on why. Call it a sixth sense, but she felt as if something bad was on the horizon.

"So what did you do today then?" Mickelle looked up her mum. She was looking directly at her. Asking her. Mickelle swallowed at the smaller figure.

"Not much. We have a lot of science homework to do." Mickelle commented.

"Yeah, you'll have to help me with that." Shaun responded, looking up.

"Why can't you do it on your own?" Mickelle bluntly replied without thinking.

"Siblings are supposed to help each other. Plus, you owe me."

"Owe you what?"

"You two, stop it. Now." Mickelle went quiet at her father's stern tone. She didn't dare argue with him. He was one of the few authority figures that the bobbed girl respected.

"Sorry, Otousan." Mickelle nodded. Shaun looked down.

"I have to go start on my assignment. My friend said he'd be calling me." Mickelle commented.

"He? Not your boyfriend is he?" Aliyah giggled.

"No!" Mickelle exclaimed her eyes widening. Honestly!

"And that is what we call straight-raising." Mickelle's mother muttered. Aliyah grinned. Rolling her eyes, Mickelle stood leaving her plate there. Her family exasperated her sometimes. Ignoring her brother's protest, the girl marched out the room.

From the street outside, Mickelle could hear the local gangs chanting and running around. She wasn't scared of them, but she was nervous that they'd break in. She had smacked one of them more than once, after all. She ignored the anger that it generated though. At the time, it had been a good stress reliever. The amount of schoolwork that 2-A had squashed onto Mickelle was insane. She hadn't been able to cope. She had been determined to keep up with the class. She wanted to prove that she was able to succeed, despite the struggles her background and – unfortunately – her skin colour had placed on her.

It didn't work.

Mickelle headed into her room, banging her door as it closed. Her eyes immediately went to her phone. Didn't he say he'd call anytime now? She didn't have his number yet, because he didn't know his off the top of his head. That was fine though. Mickelle slumped on her bed. In here was the only time that she was at peace. Her days nowadays were filled with violence. At school, it was because she was in 3-E. Out of school, it was because she lived in the ghettos. In her neighbourhood, it was because of her skin colour. Would it ever stop?

Mickelle still didn't know how her family could afford to send her here. It was obvious for Shaun – their Aunt who he lived with was loaded – but Mickelle knew her family must have been saving for years to get her into a private school such as Kunugigaoka. Aliyah would have a very difficult time getting in. As these went through her mind, Mickelle's phone went off. She reached for it, turning it over before pressing the green button.

"Hello? Mickelle-san?"

"Ebisawa-kun!" Mickelle responded.

"How are you?" Ebisawa's voice drifted through the phone and Mickelle smiled.

"I'm good. Just had dinner, now I have to start on that assignment."

"Oh, please don't get me started…" Ebisawa sighed. Something which sounded like a book fell on his end, but he made no move to address it.

"I wish I was actually good at science – or, well, anything." Mickelle admitted.

"You're better than me! The only thing I'm good at is cooking." Ebisawa sadly mused, "I can't even do maths. I have no hope for science. Hopeless."

"You aren't hopeless." Mickelle chuckled.

"Hm. You're nice for saying so." Ebisawa replied, and Mickelle felt a smile break onto her face. Ebisawa always knew how to cheer people up. That was one of the reasons everyone liked him.

"I suppose everyone always takes notice of you because of your hair if nothing else." Mickelle mused, earning an annoyed gasp from Ebisawa.

"That's not fair!"

"I know." Mickelle laughed in response, before unzipping her school bag and putting her phone onto speaker.

"So, anyways. The boys at school were talking about you today." Ebisawa offhandedly commented.

"Hm? What were they saying?" Mickelle replied, pulling out a few books. She couldn't think of what they would possibly be saying about her.

"Nothing bad, don't worry." Ebisawa added, "They were just commenting on all the members of class. Your height is one that stuck with them – and especially since your figure matches."

"Excuse me?" Mickelle stared at her phone. She didn't expect something like that from him.

"I'm just repeating what the guys said earlier." Ebisawa responded. Something like paper crackled his side of the phone. He must have his homework out as well, Mickelle thought.

"Well tell them to keep their mouths shut." Mickelle snapped. Realising what she said, she glanced back over at the now silent phone, "Sorry… I didn't think."

"Nah, its fine." Ebisawa replied, "So about this science homework –"

Ebisawa cut off as a flash of light caught Mickelle's eye. The girl got up confused. She was certain it had come from her window. Leaning on the windowsill, she looked out onto the street.

"Did you see that light?" Ebisawa's voice came through the phone.

"I did." Mickelle agreed. That's when it happened.

All Mickelle heard was Ebisawa's gasp as the moon shattered into many pieces.


	8. Kou Time!

**I'm sorry. I really don't have an excuse.**

 **I'll post what I've done despite it's unedited. Thatweirdgirl, I hope I protrayed Kou okay. I combined both of the pasts you gave me.**

 **You can have this whilst I try to get my inspiration for this fic back.**

 **Again, I'm so sorry.**

 **Credit: Rinmaru for the image.**

 **I don't own Assassination Classroom. I only own the plot, Omori and Sekine.**

* * *

 _ **WARNING: Mentions of Prostitution (Nothing Explicit) (I think its still a T)**_

* * *

 _It was dark in the house. Kaasan wasn't home yet, and Ren really wasn't bothered to turn the lights on. Right now, she was rifling through a box she had found in the spare room, looking for a jacket that had been long lost. She hadn't seen it in years, so there must be a small chance it was in here, right?_

 _Looking up, Ren glanced at the window, looking at the round, silver moon. It was the only source of light in this dingy room, and Ren was unwilling to close the curtains – despite the ghostly glow it gave off. Ren hesitated when she felt her fingers scrape against something, and she looked into the box, pushing her twin tails out the way._

 _It was a book, proportionally large to its square shape._ That must be nothing, _Ren thought dismissively. Yet, despite her thought, the girl couldn't help but open the book. Dust billowed around the room and she coughed to clear her throat. When her eyes adjusted to the cursive writing, Ren squinted peering at them._

 _What was this? A records book? The recorded actions… and that place. Ren knew that place! That was the strip club that got shut down a few years ago, as well as an area in the market well known for prostituting…_

 _What the hell?_

* * *

 _Moon destroyed! Who is behind this?_

 _70% of moon gone!_

 _Is the moons destruction work of evil masterminds?_

 _The worst disaster of the century!_

The moon had been all anyone had been talking about. It had been everywhere. Ren had had to do her homework very late, because she was up for such a long time listening to and reading all of the reports. There were many different stories but the basic outline had been about the same – on Saturday evening, for no apparent reason, the moon had exploded, losing 70% of its mass and forming a permanent crescent. Tides had stopped, governments had gone crazy and people were saying that it was the end of the world.

Ren didn't know what to believe.

"I'm sure it's nothing!" Ren looked up at Endou. It was lunchtime, and very little schoolwork had actually been done today. The class had been left with a supply teacher – who was very questionable at the best of times, the womaniser he is. He said he was a friend of Nagisa's. Ren couldn't see how they were friends. They were so different!

"Excuse me, the moon blasted." Ren pointed out in reply. Most of today had been talking about what happened. Many people were scared. A few – including Ren – were confused. Some were curious.

"That doesn't mean the world is over." Endou replied. The two of them were sitting with their backs to a tree, with their food boxes already empty. They had come over from the big group, which included half the class, all sat in the classroom. The only other person with them was Joyce, who had been quiet since he had arrived here. Shinoa hadn't turned up to school today – similar to Mao, Chiyo, Sato and Niijima. Ren guessed their parents had thought it was the end – or in Sato's case, bunking.

"I guess not – but my mum think's we're done. She wanted me to stay home. Not sure why!" Ren shrugged, before stretching her arm out.

"Sato-kun would have bunked, right?" Endou asked. Ren nodded.

"Isn't there two Satos?" Joyce spoke up. His fingers fiddled with the end of his long plaited hair.

"Two?" Ren echoed glancing at Joyce.

"Yeah – two Ari-satos"

"No, I'm Arisato-san, he's Sato-kun, Ari." That came from Arisato. She strolled over – alone for once – and sat down on the grass, tucking her feet under her. She shifted her hairpins to pull her fringe back.

"Hey Arisato-san!" Ren grinned waving. Endou winked at the class rep, who rolled her eyes in despair.

"Honestly, Endou-kun?" Arisato exclaimed. The flirty boy just shrugged, grinning.

"What did I join in on?" Arisato continued.

"Just talking about your name actually." Ren shrugged. She pushed her pigtail behind her shoulder. As much as it was nice having long hair, it got in the way a lot.

"My name?" Arisato queried.

"Yeah – you and Sato-kun." Ren smiled.

"I'm just confused." Joyce admittedly shrugged, "I'm not used to calling people by their last name – shouldn't he be called Ari Sato?"

"Yeah, but like you said, it's surnames first." Ren shrugged.

"So Arisato-san has a last name of Arisato, and Sato-kun has a last name of Sato?"

"Yep!" Ren nodded.

"Oh… so why? Why do you say their last names?"

"It's disrespectful to call people by their first name." Arisato inputted.

"Unless you're in a close relationship with them!" Ren added. No matter how many friends she had, Ren had never been close enough to someone to call them by their first name.

"Then… are you and Niijima-kun dating?"

"WHAT?" Arisato choked on nothing. Ren widened her eyes. She didn't know they were dating… were they?

"You two are dating? Damn, I missed one of the pretty ones!" Endou chuckled, earning a death stare from Arisato.

"Where did you get that from?" Arisato looked over at Joyce, who winced.

"I heard him call you 'Natsu' once… Isn't that your first name?"

"How could you hear him? He's mute!"

"Fujioka-san told me – she can read sign language." Joyce pointed out. Arisato opened her mouth to give a snarky reply before closing it, realising it was true. Ren sat back, alongside Endou, to watch Joyce and Arisato argue.

"It doesn't mean we're dating though!" The girl replied after a moment of brief hesitation.

"But you said –"

"Joyce-kun has a point." Ren couldn't help but interrupt, "You and Niijima-kun aren't related, call each other by nicknames and as far as we all know, you're both straight. You always call each other by first name or nick name as well."

"Well…" Arisato sighed, "When you put it like that…"

"So you two are dating?" Joyce tilted his head.

"No!"

Ren couldn't help but laugh. Arisato was being tortured by pure ignorance. As it turns out, ignorance seemed to be a powerful weapon. As Arisato and Joyce continued arguing with Endou occasionally adding his opinion, Ren found her gaze wondering elsewhere, over the school field. Her attention was taken by their supply teacher – he had just approached a group of girls sitting near the door. Shimizu, Arisa and Iwamoto, it looked like. With a sigh, Ren got to her feet.

"Where are you going, Ren-san?" The pink haired girl turned to look at Endou, who had ejected himself from the conversation.

"Oh, I'm just going over to sensei." Ren nodded over, and a smirk slowly played across Endou's face.

"He's going to hit on them, isn't he?" Endou replied. Ren shrugged before heading over.

"Hey, Maehara-sensei!" Ren waved, and the ginger-haired teacher looked over.

"Ren-san." He smiled, turning towards her. The pinkette stopped, waving at him.

"So, who are you hitting on?" Ren placed her hands on her hips as Maehara raised his hands in a surrender.

"No one! I promise!" Maehara grinned, "I'm not a pervert after all! I'll look after your teacher's class properly whilst he's away!"

"You seem to know him well. Anywhere from?" Ren turned, hearing Kisoka's voice behind her. His arms were crossed and brow furrowed.

"Oh, we were in the same Junior High class!" Maehara exclaimed, "We were pretty close, as well. We all still keep in contact."

"I hope we're all like that after a while." Arisato followed Ren over, alongside Endou and Joyce.

"I'm sure you will." Maehara nodded, "Now, ladies, you wanted a lesson on how to pick up guys?"

 _"_ _NO WE DIDN'T!"_

* * *

"I'm home!" Ren called as she shut the front door of her house. School had just finished for that day, and the pink haired girl was wiped out. Sometimes, having to do the cleaning at the end of the day was a big waste of time. It couldn't be helped though. She smiled when she heard her mother reply, and lightly ran up the stairs two at a time to reach her room. Pushing the door open, she set her bag on the floor before sitting on her bed. The familiar cream sheets crinkled as she landed, and Ren sighed happily. She loved being at home. As much as she liked her friends, a bit of peace was pleasant as well. After all, can't jump from burning buildings all day!

Picking up her phone, the pink-haired girl turned to the news. They were still going on about the moon. _Honestly, won't the media focus on anything else?_ Maybe the moon had blown up, but regardless, surely there must be something else to talk about. Suppose that the world was that boring that there would be nothing to talk about? Honestly. Ren pulled her hair ties out, letting her long, pink locks tumble over her shoulders.

"Kougyoku?" Ren looked up, hearing her name. That was her mother's melodic voice.

" _Hai,_ Kaasan?" The teen called back, laying back on her bed.

"Can you come downstairs for a minute?"

"Okay!" Ren sat back up, tossing a strand of pink hair behind her shoulder before slipping off her bed. A gust of chilly April wind blew through her window, making her hair go everywhere. Yelping, Ren caught it with her hand, coughing as a few hip-length strands gout caught in her teeth. Taking the chance, the nimble girl took advantage of a lax in the wind strength and darted out of her room, slamming the door hard enough behind her to make the plaster flake.

Shrugging the damage off, Ren bounced over to the stairs before running down, missing a step with every foot and hoping that she didn't fall. Landing heavily at the bottom, the girl abruptly turned, letting her hair fly out behind her. As it happens, a vase of Ren's mother's favourite flowers was on a low shelf right by the door – a shelf which Ren's hair had just collided with. The vase wobbled before slowly tipping. Ren turned, her eyes widening in horror as she watched the vase shatter.

"Oh… Oh no!" Ren gasped, falling to her knees. She started collecting the stained glass shards that used to form the vase. In her desperation, the glass flaked and sliced across her hand. Ren gasped, dropping the pieces she was holding as the red liquid flowed from her palm. That wasn't where it was supposed to be!

"Kou? Are you okay?" Ren looked up as her mother ran in from the kitchen. Dark pink eyes met large, brown ones, and Ren quickly looked away. She didn't want to meet her mothers eyes. She had loved that vase…

"Oh, Kou…" Kaasan sighed, before gently wrapping an arm around Ren and helping her to her feet.

"Kaasan… I'm sorry…" Ren sobbed slightly – half from the guilt and half from the pain in her left hand.

"No, no, it's alright Kou," Kaasan smiled gently at her daughter, "I think we need to get you cleaned up first."

Ren simply nodded as Kaasan led her into the kitchen, and turned the sink on. As soon as the water was as cold as ice – which took a matter of a few seconds – Kaasan held Ren's hand under it, causing the hyper girl to wince.

"Don't worry honey, it'll feel painful at first." Kaasan assured, noticing Ren's reaction.

"Sorry Kaasan…" Ren muttered, "I didn't see the vase, and I know you liked it – and the flowers!"

"It's okay, they can be replaced. Accidents happen."

"They happen all too often with me."

"I'm sure they don't."

"Kaasan, that's why I got moved down…" Ren muttered.

"Well… yes, maybe." Kaasan nodded, slowly bringing Ren's hand away from the water and dabbing it with a towel that had been on the side, "But isn't 3-E a better place for you?"

"It is… I can keep up easier." Ren agreed. _Thank goodness Kaasan is so supportive,_ Ren thought, _because I know plenty of friends in that class whose parent's hate where they have ended up._

"Well there you go then." Kaasan inclined her head. She removed the towel, looking at the wound – which wasn't bleeding anywhere near as much. Ren smiled tentatively, looking over at her hand and biting her lip. One of Ren's aspirations was to be a doctor – but that clearly wasn't going to happen if she wasn't keen at looking at this small wound. It was only for the money anyhow. Perhaps a lawyer would be another option…

"Kou?" Ren looked up, zoning back in from a train of thought she had been unaware of.

"Sorry, Kaasan. I'm listening now." Ren smiled, and Kaasan nodded.

"Good. I have some bandages in the front room – let's go there." Kaasan repeated what Ren had missed, and Ren nodded in response. She let Kaasan gently lead her into the room, picking up the soft, cotton bandages as she went. Softly setting Ren down on the sofa, Kaasan sat behind her before taking the bandages and slowly winding them around Ren's hand. Ren stayed quiet, letting her. Once Kaasan had finished, Ren went to get up before her mother pulled her back down.

"Kaasan –"Ren started to say before being cut off.

"No, Kou." Ren couldn't see Kaasan's face, yet she had a feeling her mother was looking at her, possibly full of kindness.

"Okay…." Ren hesitated before replying, settling herself back down again. A few seconds later, she started to feel Kaasan's hands run through her hair, passing through the tangles as easily as a spoon through water. Ren smiled, closing her eyes. Kaasan did this a lot. It was extremely calming for both of them. It reminded Ren to appreciate herself, in a strange way. Would some call that weird? She didn't know, and she frankly didn't care.

"Kou?" Kaasan suddenly said.

"Yes?"

"Tell me about your class."

"…Why?" Ren found herself questioning. It was quite a random question, after all.

"I would just like to know a little about my daughter's school life. Her friends, mainly." Kaasan mentioned, "You aren't falling into a bad crowd, are you?"

"Oh, no, not at all!" Ren couldn't help but giggle a little. Her class? Bad? That was impossible.

"Then who are you with?" Kaasan carefully coaxed. She didn't really need to though. Ren opened her eyes as a grin spread over her face, thinking back to her class and the people she often sat with. There were too many to choose!

"Well, Kaasan… I'm friends with everyone, really. They're all kind and funny – there are the exceptions of course." Ren started, as Chiyo, Kisoka and Kuro came to mind, "But there are a few I like more."

"Such as…?"

"Well – there's Iwamoto-san. She's really nice – and the ends of her hair curl and it's just so cute! She's similar to me, but I guess she doesn't have as much energy."

"That's not very hard." Kaasan commented, and Ren laughed.

"I know! Anyways. There's Endou-kun as well. He says he used to be rich and all that, but something happened and he isn't anymore. He puts his hair up into a tiny ponytail and it's so adorable! I pull it a lot – he gets so mad! There's Inoue-kun – he's quieter, but his hair screams. He's so obsessed with flowers. Oh, and the Kagami siblings of course. Mickelle is our age, she's the tallest in the class. She doesn't tend to think before she speaks but she's so lovely. I think you'd like her, Kaasan. Her brother is 12, but he's really clever and got into 3-E. He is struggling, but I think it's just because of how different the education here is from Dominica; that's where he was born and lived."

"Mirror, hm?"

"Yeah! They could be mirrors of each other – they're quite similar."

"Anyone 'more' for you yet?"

"Are you kidding?" Ren bit her knuckles to stop herself from laughing, "I don't want anyone like that yet! I wanna be free!"

"Good for you, Kou." Kaasan smiled, sitting back. Ren turned to look at her.

"Kaasan? Do you believe all the apocalyptic nonsense online?" Ren suddenly blurted out. It just came across her mind – she didn't know why.

"Is this about the moon?"

"Yep!"

Kaasan paused a moment before replying, "I don't really. No one can deny that it's the most devastating disaster that's ever happened. It's probably never going to be the same."

"Yeah…." Ren went silent, leaning back. Her mind drifted to the day of the moon blowing up. It was that night when she had found that book. Was now the right time to ask? Ren couldn't stand being in the dark – and she was extremely impatient, as well.

"Kou? Are you alright?" Ren shut her eyes at Kaasan's voice. It was now or never.

"Kaasan, I was going through some boxes the other day – the day when the moon blew up. I found a book… It had some… questionable words in there." Silence descended after Ren's words. She opened her eyes to look at Kaasan. The pink-haired mother had gone still, eyes staring at the floor. Ren bit her lip. Did she say something wrong?

"Kaasan… Sorry." Ren looked awar.

"Don't worry – it's fine." Kaasan looked up at her daughter, who had her eyebrows raised in surprise.

"You aren't offended...?" That wasn't what Ren thought.

"No… I should have told you earlier anyways." Kaasan smiled slightly, her mouth wobbling. Ren blinked before nodding.

"So… what is it?" Ren asked after a pause, looking up at Kaasan after she sat back.

Kaasan paused, sitting back and glancing at the ceiling, "it… was something I did when I was younger. I was struggling for money – of course, I didn't know your father yet, so I didn't have a steady job. I was… forced into what you would call prostitution."

"What?" Ren exclaimed, pushing her hair behind her shoulders, "I mean, it matches those records I read. But – but how?!"

"I know, I know…" Kaasan glanced away, not wanting to face her daughter, "I was a reckless girl in my youth. I was forced into doing regrettable things and I honestly wish that I had found a better way to make money now." She shrugged, "I worked in a club, but it honestly wasn't for very long. You know… I actually met your father there."

"You what?" Ren exclaimed, sitting back slightly as the shock showed clearly on her face, "I didn't realise that… I thought you said he would never get involved in things like that?"

"He wouldn't normally." Kaasan sighed, "I think that night just happened to be a one-off. He saw me as I was performing and we went from there. We met him outside of the club after that, and he helped me get out of the tight spot I was in. Then not long after I became pregnant, he left. He disappeared off of the planet. If I was honest… if it wasn't for you, I would have gone back to my old ways. I couldn't do that for you, so I had to think of other… other options. You saved me, Kou."

Ren listened with wide eyes, the pinkness in them glowing. She had saved her mother from a poor fate such as that? No one would have even guessed, right?

"I…" Ren started to say, but then stopped. She wasn't sure what she was going to say anyways.

"I'm sorry for not telling you earlier." Kaasan sighed, "But for someone of your age, there was never an appropriate time to say anything. I'm not sure when I was planning to… I was going too eventually."

"It's alright!" Ren smiled, placing a hand on Kaasan's shoulder with a merry smile, "I don't mind that you didn't tell me before now! I can understand why, it wasn't like it was unreasonable."

Kaasan hesitated before smiling, "Thank you, Kou… I'm so glad I have you." She pulled her daughter into a hug, moving her hair out of the way. Ren smiled, leaning into her mother and closing her eyes. They always had each other. They had always been close, so these hugs were normal. However, today, after what Ren found out… she knew they meant a lot more than what she reckoned.

"Kaasan?" Ren quietly whispered into her mother's ear.

"Hm?" Kaasan replied.

"I still need to get you a new flower vase."

"Kou!"

* * *

"You see, I went to the pool yesterday and everyone there was complaining that the sea was just like the pool now! It was nothing special!"

When Ren walked into the classroom the following day, she was immediately drawn to Iwamaoto's conversation with Shimizu. Both girls were leaning on the window, by Shimizu's seat. Kumino's bag was there, but the boy himself wasn't there. Several other bags were by their desks as well, but the only other person in there was Kuro, who was busy slowly writing in a notebook at his desk.

"Hey, Ren-san!" Ren smiled as she placed her bag by her desk, hearing Iwamoto's merry cry.

"Morning." Ren headed over, sitting on the edge of her desk as she listened to them, "So you went to the pool yesterday, huh, Iwamoto-san?"

"Yep!" Iwamoto nodded. Ren did notice Iwamoto's hair to be wavier than normal, not just at the ends. It must have dried without use of a hairdryer.

"How was it?" Ren asked, leaning back.

"Boring, actually. Nothing different to any water body now." Iwamoto sighed, "I could go to the sea and get the same experience, albeit saltier."

"That's the mood for you." Shimizu shrugged with a nonchalant grimace, "Everything's going to be like that now. There's never going to be any tides ever again."

"Shame – I liked going to the beach and fighting the tides!" Iwamoto giggled slightly, " I always pretended they were going to drag me under!"

"Yeah – and it was so cold!" Shimizu grinned, her eyes sparkling.

"Oh, what are we talking about?" Ren looked over at the door to see the newcomer. Fujioka. She was clearly tired from her walk on the mountain, and she had to take her hat off and place it onto her desk. Placing her bag down, she headed over with her white-blonde hair shining. Ren slid off her desk to let Fujioka sit down, as she was clearly weak.

"Thanks." Fujioka smiled. Ren dipped her head.

"Hey, Fujioka-san!" Shimizu tilted her head slightly, "How was yesterday?"

"It was okay." Fujioka sighed, "I had to have an appointment at the hospital. It took all night, I didn't manage to get my homework done."

"Oh – you can copy ours!" Iwamoto offered.

"No, it's fine." Fujioka kindly smiled, "I appreciate the offer, but I think Nagisa-sensei knows about the appointment and knows that I wouldn't have been able to do it!"

"True." Shimizu nodded, "Seems like a rather boring night though."

"It was." Fujioka replied, "Then what did you do?"

"Oh, I was just alone. I watched some films whilst doing homework, but it was kind of lonely." Shimizu shrugged, flicking her hair over her shoulder, "You, Iwamoto-san?"

"Otouto and I studied. I had to help him with some maths questions. He struggles a bit in school." Iwamoto closed her eyes as she tilted her head slightly, "I had to help Dad a little with housework once he was back…" She sighed. She must be talking about helping her brother, Shigeru.

"You should bring some of us to your house to help with the tutoring! That way you get a break!" Shimizu smiled, "I'm sure many of us would be able to."

"Thanks, I'll…. I'll consider it!" Iwamoto laughed slightly, her eyes closed as she smiled, "How about you Ren-san?"

Ren didn't realise they were calling her at first. When she did though, her eyes widened slightly, her breath gasping slightly. How could she tell them what happened last night? What she found out? What her mother said was something that should stay private, of course.

"Hey, Ren-san, you're really quiet today." Shimizu pointed out, "What's wrong?"

"Oh, nothing. I'm just a little tired." Ren shrugged slightly, "Just the usual happenings last night."

"How's your mother?" Iwamoto asked.

"Kaasan's okay!" Ren forced a smile, "We're both good."

"That's good!" Fujioka smiled. She went to say something else before the door was slid open again, and male chatter filled the room.

"You're quite the slave driver." That was Endou. He had walked in, alongside Ebisawa and Inoue. Surprisingly, Sekine was with them, and they seemed to be addressing her.

"What can you do?" Sekine shrugged, brushing a few fingers through her covered fringe, "How else will little sisters understand?"

"Seems a bit mean to me." Ebisawa pointed out. Ren frowned slightly. What had they been talking about?

"Hey, what's going on?" Ren called over. The four stopped, before heading over to the girls. Ren frowned slightly; Sekine had never really socialised with anyone. Now that some of the nicest and more popular boys in the class were getting along with her… was she opening up a litte?

"Sekine-san was just telling us about her sister." Endou replied, flinging his bag to his desk and ignoring the crunch that sounded from his bag.

"Oh yeah?" Iwamoto asked, shuffling across a little, "What is she like then?" Ren glanced over at Sekine, who seemed to have bottled up. She glanced away before turning and going back to her seat.

"Okay…" Shimizu sighed, before looking over at the others, "Hey, I heard Nagisa-sensei talking about a boy vs girl's match in Sports soon. We'll trash you!" She giggled, throwing an arm around Fujioka, who squeaked in surprise.

"Yeah!" Iwamoto laughed, going over to sit by Shimizu.

"Nah, we'll make sure that doesn't happen." Inoue raised an eyebrow as he grinned, taking stance beside Endou, who was between him and Ebisawa.

"Oh yeah?" Iwamoto challenged.

Ren watched the scene with interest as the six evolved into a 'civilised' quarrel. She focused on each of them individually. Fujioka's grin as she was shaken by Shimizu. Ebisawa's laugh as it bounced off the walls. The teasing sparkle in Endou's eyes, and Shimizu's tongue as she stuck it out, teasing them. Inoue's raised eyebrows, and Iwamoto swaying slightly as she watched.

Ren was glad to be here. She let her mind drift off, thinking back to when she wasn't as 'happy'.

 _12 years old…_

 _"_ _Look at that! Kou, you did amazing! You were accepted into Kunugigaoka!" Ren, with her hair long and flowing, looked up at her mother. Kaasan was holding a gradesheet. Her final report from elementary. As usual, it was of the highest grade._

 _"_ _Yeah… I guess so." Kou smiled slightly, seeing how happy this made her mother. She always tried to make her mother happy but… Kaasan had no idea. She had no idea how stressed the high marks and the endless hours of studying was making her. Anything to make Kaasan happy though, right?_

 _"_ _I hope you're not in D class – hopefully B or C with these stunning grades!" Kaasan exclaimed, sitting down at the dining room table._

 _"_ _Kaasan… I'm not sure I want to go to that school." Ren hesitated before saying. Kaasan's smile slipped off her face._

 _"_ _Why not…?" The woman gasped slightly, "Kunugigaoka is one of the best schools in the country and the best in this part of Tokyo by far!"_

 _"_ _I just… don't think I want to go to somewhere like that." Ren paused. She couldn't tell Kaasan the truth._

 _"_ _Well, think on it and come back to me, okay?" Kaasan smiled. Ren sighed before nodding, she already knew what that meant. As much as she loved her mother, she seemed to be pushy._

 _13 years old…_

 _"_ _From C to D?" Kaasan and Ren were sat on the floor, with pillows. Ren nodded, her hair still loose._

 _"_ _Yeah… It should be better." Ren smiled slightly. Kaasan sighed._

 _"_ _Kou, I know you don't study as much as you used to…" Kaasan looked away and Ren tensed. How did she know? Ren still studied, of course. She just tried to stop the stress. The first year midterms had broken her as it was. The stress was too much. In the end she didn't care. Her results had gone down, but it was better that then crying in the corner of her room._

 _"_ _So?" Ren tilted her head._

 _"_ _So try to stay in D, okay? If it's better for you… Then it'll get better results in the end." Kaasan smiled slightly. Ren nodded._

 _"_ _Alright… thanks for understanding, Kaasan." Ren smiled._

 _"_ _That's okay!" Kaasan pulled Ren into a hug, and Ren just laughed slightly, leaning into her. It was good for now._

 _14 years old…_

 _"_ _Hey, come on Ren-san!" Ren looked over, her twintails now neat as she looked over. A group of five individuals were walking behind her, laughing and talking. Without warning, they ran over to her, and Ren laughed as her knees buckled. These were her friends, and the others she goofed off with in D Class._

 _"_ _Toujo-san!" Ren giggled as the green-haired girl wrapped her arms around Ren's neck._

 _"_ _What?" Toujo grinned, "Chill a bit!"_

 _"_ _I'm home, I need to get in!" Ren stuck her tongue out with a laugh as Toujo let her go and faded back into the group of friends._

 _"_ _See you tomorrow!" Ren waved as she turned to her front door, opening it. Kaasan always left it unlocked._

 _"_ _I'm home!" Ren cried. Kaasan was standing in the doorway to the living room, her face stony._

 _"_ _Kaasan, what's wrong?" Ren shut the door as she walked over, looking at the piece of paper in Kaasan's hands. Her face paled. It was from Kunugigaoka._

 _"_ _You're moving into 3-E…" Kaasan sighed, "I told you, you shouldn't play around in class. Now you'll see the repercussions."_

"Ren-san!" Ren jumped as she spotted Iwamoto waving. Ren laughed slightly.

"Sorry, I was just thinking." Ren brushed it off with a wave of her hand.

"About what?" Ebisawa asked.

"About… how lucky I am to be here. I never would have met all of you otherwise!" Ren smiled.

"Heck yeah!" Fujioka giggled and Ren burst into a big smile. That was for certain.

Ren was happy to be here, for sure.


	9. Kazushige Time!

**Sorry this took me so long - I've been busy. I have mock exams in 2 weeks so I really wanted to get this out, because of the hiatus. I'll pick it up after this though. (I'll try)**

 **Again, not every character is mentioned because they didn't all fit in. They'll definitely all come in in the next chapter though - including a new character!**

 **Starting to think of trip groups now - if you notice a group you want to see together, please tell me!**

 **Anyway, I hope** **you enjoy, and I'm so sorry x'D**

 **PS: Chapter is unedited because of time**

* * *

 _"_ _I didn't mean to! I promise!" The boy glanced up. A stern face greeted his pleading gaze, "Dad, you have to believe me! I'm just clumsy!"_

 _"_ _I know…" The man sighed, his greying hair seemingly even more obvious, "I don't think this can be excused though…"_

 _"_ _The 2-C teacher will be left with grievous injuries after this," A man faced the two across a clean, wooden desk. His face was curved into a frown, one that made Ebisawa shudder, "He may not even be able to come back to work!"_

 _"_ _I said I'm sorry! It was an accident!" Ebisawa exclaimed, only to have the harsh grip on his arm tightened from the man to his left._

 _"_ _Regardless, you are lucky we let you stay in this school at all!" The uniformed senior scowled. His auburn hair was flat on his head, purple eyes sharp. Ebisawa hung his head, shame coursing through his body._

 _"_ _Sir, I'm sorry for my son's mistake, and we can pay the medical bills." The old man to the left spoke up, "But please – my son is very clumsy, you must understand…"_

 _"_ _Oh, don't worry." The man sighed, "But as the chairman of this school, I must give out punishment." Ebisawa tensed._

 _"_ _What punishment?" He asked. His father immediately glared at him._

 _"_ _Well…" The chairman slid a piece of paper across the desk. Father and son both peered at it._

 _"_ _What – Class E?" Ebisawa gasped._

 _"_ _Yes – as of the beginning of Third Year, you shall be commencing the Year in 3-E." The chairman informed._

 _"_ _No…" Ebisawa sighed, "No, this can't be happening – I've said sorry, I really am! I'm sorry!"_

* * *

"I've said sorry, I really am!" Ebisawa exclaimed, "I'm sorry!"

"What the hell do you mean?" The class was silent, save for a few solutions from chemistry bubbling away. Sekine had snapped those words. She was standing over Kisoka, her lab partner. Both of them had just managed to dodge the toxic solution Ebisawa had spilt; Kisoka had fallen on the way. It was now bubbling on the floor, inches from them, dissolving the wood.

"I just tripped – I have butter fingers!" Ebisawa tried to excuse himself.

"You almost killed me!" Kisoka snapped, getting to his feet besides Sekine, "You're dangerous!"

"I'm sorry…" Ebisawa bit his lip as Kisoka and Sekine shared a look – full of hate.

"Ebisawa-san…" The boy glanced up to see his small, bluenette teacher standing by him, eyes wide.

"Perhaps you should step out. Wait by the staff room for me." Nagisa informed; he then turned to Kisoka and Sekine. Ebisawa widened his eyes, glancing around at the class. Most of them were surprised as they watched the chaos unfold. Only a few seemed understanding – and they were all from his old class. They witnessed what he had done before. With a sigh, Ebisawa left the classroom.

Fear surged in his stomach as the boy leaned against the wooden wall. He always did this – it wasn't his fault. His knees gave out as he sunk to the floor, wrapping his arms around his head. What if he hurt his friends just like he had hurt the teacher?

"Ebisawa-kun?" Ebisawa glanced up, tense. He sighed as the familiar form of Cloriko Gastumatsee kneel before him. People were only starting to address her by her first name as the end of April slowly started to creep closer.

"Oh… Cloriko-san." Ebisawa glanced to the side.

"Nagisa-sensei sent me to check you were okay. He thought you'd be upset." Cloriko tilted her head as she adjusted her glasses, fiery orange hair hanging around her form. Ebisawa sighed slightly.

"Well. Yeah, I suppose." Ebisawa laughed slightly, no humour in the sound, "I'm worried! I definitely didn't hit Kisoka-kun or Sekine-san, right?"

"Definitely, they're just a bit mad. Fujioka-san is helping Nagisa-sensei check them." Cloriko nodded, "You haven't hurt them, don't worry!"

"Good… I can't handle that happening again!" Ebisawa buried his head in his hands, despairing.

"Oh… that's how you got here, right?" Cloriko sat back. Of course, she was a former 2-A. She would have known, "Doing that to a teacher?"

"Yeah – it was that formula as well…" Ebisawa frowned, "His face was scarred – what if I did that to them?"

"You didn't!" Cloriko exclaimed, "They weren't touched! It's okay…"

Ebisawa didn't reply to Cloriko at first. He sighed, a hand going to one of his braids and worriedly pulling at it.

"Well… at least it didn't happen again." He frowned, before getting to his feet, Cloriko quickly following suit, "Thanks, Cloriko-san. I'll be fine…"

"Are you sure?" Cloriko frowned slightly. Ebisawa nodded.

"I'll go back in and tell him." Cloriko bowed slightly to him before heading back into the classroom. Ebisawa rolled onto his arm, looking away with a frown. That was too close. He would be unable to forgive himself if he hurt anyone again. He let his eyes close, solemn. All he could do was wait.

* * *

The sun was almost completely gone. Ebisawa held a torch as he stared up at the broken-down school building. He liked being outside usually, but it was cold now. With a sigh, the boy placed the lit torch on the ground, pushing down the sleeves of the flannel shirt he was wearing with hesitation. He never normally did that. He picked the torch up again, waving the light around.

The boy had wanted to talk to Nagisa about the accident that day. He would have gotten here earlier as he lived close, but his parents wanted him to do his homework first. Now his teacher was gone. What else did he expect?

Ebisawa took a deep breath, letting the fresh air invade his lungs. It was nice to be out at least. The wildlife on the mountain was so incredibly diverse. He hadn't had the chance yet, but it was worth going to go bug-catching or birdwatching. It would get even better as the weather got warmer. Perfect time for the summer holidays.

"Ebisawa-kun!" Ebisawa turned to see two familiar students running up the mountain. Both winced as Ebisawa pointed his torch at them. He sighed as he recognised Mao and Hikari, slowing to a walk. He smiled, heading over and pointing the torch down before he blinded them.

"Hikari-san, Mao-kun – what are you doing here?" Ebisawa tilted his head.

"We could say the same to you, Ebisawa-kun. You could catch a cold!" Hikari widened her eyes, "If I had a jacket I would give it to you." She was wearing a sweater and jeans, emphasising her already large breasts – something he knew she was uncomfortable about.

"Yeah, I guess…" Ebisawa sighed.

"Nagisa-sensei told us you'd be here." Mao informed, wrapping his jacket tighter around him.

"He did? How did he know?" Ebisawa tilted his head curiously.

"Beats me." Mao shrugged, "But you were here, which means our preparations didn't go to waste!"

"Preparations? What are you on about?" The golden haired boy glanced up at Mao.

"Oh, right… you were in the gardening club, right? Want to own a flower shop?"

"That's right…"

"So we thought of a way to cheer you up!"

"What's that?"

"We decided to help you spruce up the schoolhouse here." Hikari jumped into the conversation, tilting her head with a smile.

"Spruce it up?" Ebisawa frowned, "How…"

"Oh, you haven't been inside?" Hikari's brows raised.

"No… I thought it was locked." Ebisawa admitted.

"Nagisa-sensei left it open for us." Mao smiled, "We filled the staff room with all sorts of flowers. We have our torches inside too – the three of us can make the mountain pretty."

Ebisawa stared at them for a few moments, confusion and slight happiness filling him. Why would someone – two someones – do this for him? He was just another student to them – one who almost scarred two people just today. What was this all about?

"How do you know I like flowers? You were both class B, right?" Ebisawa tilted his head.

"Yep. Arisa-san told us, when we asked." Mao nodded, referring to Ebisawa's classmate last year.

"We offered for her to come along, but she refused." Hikari noted.

Ebisawa was speechless for a few moments before choking out, "But… why?"

"We wanted to make you feel better." Mao smiled, "After what happened today. After all, the mountain could use a makeover anyways."

"I… don't know what to say…." Ebisawa bit his lip. His heart bubbled and eyes shone at the prospect of the flowers, yet he still felt a little overwhelmed.

"It's okay – don't force yourself!" Hikari smiled, "Come on – let's go and start planting." She tilted her head, "Before you freeze!"

"Oh… oh, okay!" Ebisawa quickly nodded, before he followed Hikari and Mao with a smile.

The three walked into the dilapidated building, quickly heading towards the staff room. Their footsteps echoed on the floor, with Ebisawa quickly taking the lead to light the way. He couldn't keep the smile off of his face. He'd have to tell his father and step-mother why he wasn't home, but that would be fine. They should understand and he could always put up with a small telling off.

Mao leaned forwards, gripping the handle of the door and sliding it to the side. The sweet smell of flowers overtook the three students as they glanced around. Colour co-ordinated flowers of pink, yellow, red and orange adorned the room. Tulips, roses and more. Ebisawa grinned just looking at them. The school house was going to look amazing. His eyes drifted towards the centre, and he almost lost his grip on the torch.

"Nagisa-sensei!" He exclaimed, "What are you doing here?"

"Ah, Ebisawa-san, I had it right." The blunette chuckled, "I thought you were coming here tonight."

"Nagisa-sensei?" Hikari gasped, "I thought we left you down the bottom of the mountain? How could you get into the schoolhouse without us seeing you?"

"Also, how did you know I was here?" Ebisawa quiered. Nagisa just tapped his finger to his nose, eyes mysterious.

"Right…" Mao tilted his head, "You're really mysterious sensei, and do you know that?"

"I know – but that's a way to learn. You have to learn to adapt." Nagisa smiled at them, getting to his feet. He had to look up at all three of them – admittedly giving Ebisawa a little bit of satisfaction.

"Yeah… I guess that does reflect the bigger picture." Hikari smiled, a small laugh escaping her lips.

"Exactly, and if you're to ace this class, you have to adapt to every problem that comes your way." Nagisa nodded, "Midterms are coming up, you know. If you see a question, you have to adapt to it and then strike the killing blow!"

"That's some metaphor…" Mao sighed slightly in admiration. Ebisawa nodded his agreement.

"Oh, sorry." Nagisa tilted his head, a coy and worrisome smile on his face, "I just wanted to help the situation!"

"You did – thank you." Ebisawa smiled. The two ikemen behind him nodded.

"That's a relief…" Nagisa sighed with a chuckle, "Now, should we get to planting?"

"Planting? You're going to help?" Ebisawa smiled.

"Of course! Who's a teacher who doesn't help his students?" Nagisa nodded. Ebisawa couldn't help but laugh. It was at times like these where Nagisa seemed more like a friend than a teacher.

"Thank you, Nagisa-sensei!" Ebisawa laughed slightly, picking up a shovel as the two other students gathered up their torches and got to work.

* * *

"Ebisawa-kun!" Ebisawa turned, shouldering his school bag. It was the next day and he was exhausted. His parents had already left for work when he woke in the morning, which was ridiculously early. Now, he was halfway up the mountain.

"Oh, morning, Endou-kun." Ebisawa smiled as the small, popular student ran up behind him.

"Hey, you look tired." Endou paused as he stopped by the taller boy, looking up as he jumped slightly. Ebisawa was 20cm taller; similar to most of the others.

"I do?"

"Yep! Late night?"

"Oh… you could say that."

"You're shivering!"

"I was out a lot."

"Silly Ebisawa-kun!" Endou gently nudged the boy, who widened his eyes.

"Oh, um, sorry?"

"You shouldn't be out that late!" Endou looked at him with wide-eyed, "What were you even doing?"

"I just couldn't sleep so I had to burn off some energy." Ebisawa shrugged with a small laugh.

"Oh, I understand!" Endou laughed, "I run every night because I just can't stand to sit around and do nothing! I have too much energy to burn and it'll just fester!"

"Just you, Endou-kun." Ebisawa laughed as the duo began to walk up the mountain again. Ebisawa yawned as he covered his mouth.

"Hey… did you hear the news today?" Endou frowned after a moment.

"About that murderer being captured? I did." Ebisawa sighed, a bad memory forming in his head.

"It's good that some people are being brought to justice." Endou smiled, "Gives me hope!"

"Yeah…" Ebisawa sighed slightly, glancing down. Some people hadn't been brought to justice. They never would be.

"Hey, Ebisawa-kun, you sure you're okay?" Endou was looking over concerned. Ebisawa widened his eyes. He must have been looking sad again.

"I'm okay." Ebisawa smiled, "Don't worry!"

"Ah, well don't let the drowsiness get you down!" Endou playfully nudged him, causing a small laugh from both boys. Ebisawa frowned when Endou's attention was diverted. Of course, someone like him would never understand.

Some people would never receive justice because the authorities simply didn't know who they were. They never would know which spree killers killed Ebisawa's mom, and left him with his father. It had been over 8 years now and there were still very little clues. They weren't even looking anymore. Why would they? Ebisawa would just have to deal with this from now on.

"Woah, Ebisawa-kun, look!" Endou's surprised exclamation pulled Ebisawa from his thoughts. He glanced up, and a smile spread on his face. It looked even better in daylight.

Pink, red and orange flowers had been planted all under the windows of the building, and circled around the edge of the perimeter. Two baskets either side of the door held blue roses, and more flowers had been woven around the door and window frames. Near the forest, too, more flowers had been planted in small bunches. The smell was already irresistible to many wildlife, as butterflies and bees hovered around.

"It's amazing!" Endou gasped. Ebisawa smiled, feeling accomplished. He stuffed his hands in his blazer pockets as Endou darted forwards, laughing slightly.

"It's definitely lightened up this place!" Endou grinned before glancing to the side and widening his eyes, "Hey, Omori-kun, Ken-kun, Kumino-kun!" He waved at the three boys, standing together and looking around, "Come on Ebisawa-kun!" Ebisawa was snapped out of his stupor, running to catch up with Endou as the flirty boy headed over.

"Morning." Omori nodded, bowing slightly to them, "These flowers are incredible, aren't they?"

"Yeah!" Endou nodded, looking up at the boy who was almost a foot taller than him, "They smell awesome!"

"You have to promise me something though." Omori tilted his head, "No picking any to flirt with girls though."

"Oh, you do that here also?" Ken asked, tilting his head. His Japanese was improving quickly.

"You bet." Endou laughed, "Don't worry, I don't wanna incur the Class Rep's wrath. We all know how he scared off that Class-A bully from Mao-kun!"

"You know about that?" Omori widened his eyes.

"Who doesn't?" Kumino lightly laughed.

"Sadist." Endou rolled his eyes, causing Omori to laugh slightly.

"I was just standing up for my classmates." Omori tilted his head.

"You miss it." Endou laughed.

"Maybe." Omori shrugged, looking down at Endou.

"Back on subject." Ken interrupted, brows raised.

"Yeah – what of these flowers?" Kumino agreed, "Do you think Nagisa-sensei put them there?"

"Why would he stay after school?" Ken frowned slightly.

"Nagisa-sensei is a dedicated teacher." Ebisawa suddenly cut in, "I think he would have done so." He smirked knowingly.

"That's true." Omori nodded, "It's just surprising. I don't know another teacher who would go that far out for his students."

"Nagisa-sensei is special." Ken sighed.

"That's true. He doesn't even feel like a teacher at times." Endou pointed out.

"Maybe because he's on your level." Omori teased lightly.

"Hey, I can't help being short!" Endou laughed, rolling his eyes sarcastically.

" _You're short?_ " Endou jumped as a small voice sounded behind him. Ebisawa glanced to his left as Shinoa glanced from between Ken and Endou.

"Where did you come from?!" Endou let out a surprised squeak as all five boys descended into laughter. Ebisawa took the moment to let his eyes sweep over the gathering students staring in admiration. Hikari and Mao were both standing with a few in the shade – Shimizu, Fujioka, Inoue and Zamura – and Mao was struggling to keep the smile off of his face.

Arisa, too, was standing with a few – Sato, Sekine and Chiyo – and whilst her face was blank, she was glancing around, a knowing glint in her eyes. Ebisawa chuckled slightly. He had done a good, and he loved it.

He might have almost killed Sekine and Kisoka, but in the end, his actions were for the better.

* * *

" _This task is dangerous. You are a skilled assassin for it to go to you_." The man, speaking in English, cleared his throat, looking at the woman sitting on the sofa in front of him. He handed over a few papers, which the woman quickly flicked through.

" _So this doesn't seem awfully difficult._ " The woman pointed out, " _But I know that he's deadlier than he seems."_

 _"_ _As normal."_ The man replied calmly, _"You are aware of the situation, though, however."_

 _"_ _I am."_ The woman sighed, glancing up.

 _"_ _You must make sure none of the twenty nine students are aware of your plan."_

 _"_ _So I can't kill him in front of them?"_

 _"_ _No. That's out of the question."_

 _"_ _Right."_ The woman sighed, tilting her head as she deposited the paper on the nearby table.

 _"_ _Onoda Yoshimura will be there from the Japanese branch to supervise you. He may be old, but he is wise. He'll be camping near the assassination site."_ The man added.

 _"_ _Right."_ Came the feminine reply.

 _"_ _Your flight departs at 0650 tomorrow morning, Greenwich Meridian Time. Do not miss it."_ The man cleared his throat, _"Make sure you stay in character as their Sports teacher."_

 _"_ _Understood."_ The woman nodded, _"Don't worry, sir. I'll kill him. I won't let you down."_


End file.
